Jus Primae Noctis
by Ambrant Arandel
Summary: My vision of season four. I wrote this to take place after season three. I've rated it M as much to be safe as anything else. Saito reaches a decision about the girls, but the girls have other ideas...
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: Well, it's been a long time, but I'm back in action. These 60-80 hr. work weeks kind of suck, but after they started airing the new season of Zero no Tsukaima I decided I could remain silent no longer. This story was what I wrote while waiting for the new season to be released and was pretty much my vision of season four. I've written up to Chapter 13 already, but haven't finished the ending. For those who love this series like I do, take this as my humble gift to celebrate the new season.**

**Jus Primae Noctis**

A Zero no Tsukaima fanfiction

Chapter 1.

Dawn arrived as it usually did over the land of Tristain, light pouring over the countryside filling in the cracks where night reluctantly let loose it's tenuous grip on the morning. At the magical academy of Tristain, the peaceful morning was getting off to its usual start.

"SAITO!" Louise was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Saito ducked a lethal barrage of rocks from the explosive spells his master was wielding and dove for cover behind a bush. "Louise! I'm serious! I didn't know she was there!"

The most powerful familiar in the entire academy barely dodged another shot from his irate girlfriend before rolling and taking off at top speed for one of the gardens on the other side of the castle with her hot on his heels.

"You stupid dog! I'll teach you to go fondling that cow!" Louise screamed after him.

"Why are you getting mad at me? SHE was the one that put my hand on her chest!" Saito screamed back at the diminutive mage, jumping over a rail to drop athletically onto the turf below. This would give him some lead since Louise would have to take the stairs instead of just vaulting over the side.

Saito lost the furious girl around the side of a tower, and quickly hid. Louise went running past as normal with her wand held high over her head ready to visit death and destruction on her minion. As the girl disappeared around the corner, Saito sighed and flopped back on the ground to rest.

As his head struck something soft, Saito realized his morning wasn't getting any better.

"Good morning Ivaldi." Tabitha said looking down at him.

Saito looked up at the foreign princess' quiet eyes from her lap where his head had landed. He didn't even have time to think before a pair of lips captured his in the second 'good morning' kiss he'd had of the day.

"Um... good morning?" Saito said uneasily when he'd finally been released. Looking up to confirm his worst fears, he saw Louise coming back for more.

"You perverted dog! What are you doing, making your rounds?" Louise cried chasing him once again around the castle blasting anything that got in her way.

Saito cleared the stairs in one leap, this time heading in the opposite direction. He really loved those stairs. The young Japanese boy had just rounded the wall when he stopped and began walking sedately. Louise came running in behind and crashed into his back.

"Good morning headmaster." The two said politely, walking quietly in front of the old man.

"Good morning you two. You're energetic as usual this morning I see." Headmaster Osmond said as the two put on their most innocent smiles.

"Just a normal morning around here." Saito chuckled sadly as he looked at Louise's expression promising bloody murder as soon as the headmaster was out of earshot.

The headmaster nodded and started off towards the main tower of the campus. Saito stopped and watched him go. Louise stepped forward to watch and began slowly raising her wand the further he got away from them. As soon as he rounded a corner, Louise rounded on him. "Now I'm going to... mmpfh..."

Saito kissed the girl like his life depended on it, (which it probably did). His hand covered hers as it held the wand aloft and gently brought it down to her side. As he deepened the kiss he felt the young mage melting into his arms. When he was done, she was needing help to stand. "Good morning."

"I'm going to... be late for class. I'll deal with you later." Louise said shakily as she pushed the boy down before turning to run off for class.

Saito sighed and managed to stand. Life had definitely been rough for the past few days. Not really having much to do, Saito headed off to find someplace to hide for the day until Louise could calm down. Not having anywhere else to go he found himself outside Professor Colbert's lab. The young man knocked uncertainly hoping the older man would be working instead of already in class.

"Oh, Saito, come in my boy." Colbert said when he answered the door. "Looking for a place to hide from Louise again?"

"Yeah." The familiar answered sheepishly.

"What was it this time?" Colbert asked conversationally as he went back to his bench of reagents he'd been mixing.

"I woke up this morning with Siesta more on top of me than off, and before I could say anything she put my hand on her breast and kissed me." Saito said miserably.

"I see." Colbert said without paying much attention.

"I don't see why Louise always gets mad at _me_. It's not like I told her to do it or came on to her or anything." Saito said angrily. "Every time any girl so much as winks at me though Louise flies off the handle and starts beating up on ME."

"I see." The professor Colbert said mixing two more vials together.

"You're not even listening." Saito deadpanned.

"Frustrating, isn't it?" The absentminded fire mage said as he examined the contents of the flask and put it on to boil.

"Yeah, kind of." Saito admitted.

"Well then, let's step out for a moment while this boils." Colbert said picking up his trusty staff.

Saito followed the teacher out into the large commons of the school where other students who didn't yet have class were hanging out drinking tea and eating cake like proper nobility. Professor Colbert lead the way over to a table where Saito saw Malicorne pigging out for breakfast.

"Hey, Malicorne, we have practice later. Aren't you hitting the sweets a little hard?" The young swordsman scolded.

"Of course Saito. I'm just making sure I'm stocked up before practice. The way you and Guiche have been drilling us I'm in danger of wasting away." Malicorne complained around a mouthful of cake.

"Like it'd kill you to lose a few pounds." Saito griped as Professor Colbert bent over to whisper something in Malicorne's ear.

Malicorne looked from Professor Colbert to Saito and then back again. Finally, the portly noble jumped up grabbing Saito's hand and planting it firmly on his breast declaring, "Saito I love you!"

Laughter erupted all around as Saito yanked his hand away as if it had been scalded and smacked Malicorne upside the head. "I am NOT gay! YOU GOT THAT!"

"And that concludes our lesson." Professor Colbert announced.

"What lesson?" Saito asked the smirking professor.

"Are you going to drop my lowest grade now professor?" Malicorne said looking around at his classmates and blushing heavily. "That was embarrassing."

"Of course, my boy. A deal is a deal. Consider it dropped." Professor Colbert told the large boy as he wandered off. Saito raced to keep up with the man.

"Wait a minute, you put him up to that?" The void familiar demanded.

"Yes, an interesting display I might add." Colbert affirmed.

"But... why?"

"Saito, every day I see Louise chasing after you, getting angry because of what some girl did to you. Might I suggest that if you gave all the girls who made advances on you the same treatment that you just gave Malicorne that she wouldn't be as angry?" The older man advised. "I don't think that Louise is angry that the incidents occur, I think she's angry that you never rebuke these young girls."

"But... then they'll hate me!" Saito whined. "I don't want to be cruel."

"And Louise doesn't want to be hurt because the person she cares about seems to be enjoying the advances of so many lovely girls." The teacher lectured.

"I'd never hurt Louise." Saito disagreed.

"Probably not intentionally, but I think she feels frustrated at someone not paying attention to her feelings by not making his preferences plainly known, and that can hurt in its own right." Professor Colbert continued to advise. "Now, I suggest you think about these things until Louise gets out of class and then go talk to her. I don't need you hiding out in my lab for the next few days while I'm running my latest experiment."

"Thank you professor." The admonished young man said sadly. He remembered how annoyed he'd been thinking that Colbert had been ignoring him and if Louise was annoyed it would figure she'd approach it like she always did.

"Don't mention it lad. The headmaster asked me to speak to you two about it recently. It seems he's getting tired of having to have the castle repaired." The professor said before turning to go. "Oh and one last thing. From one man to another, I have a piece of advice on dealing with Louise."

"I'll take all I can get." Saito said earnestly.

Colbert looked around to see if anyone was in earshot and leaned close in seriousness. "I don't know if she's the type or not son, but sometimes girls like that are just looking for a good man to smack them on the tail and make them behave. Something to think about."

Saito stood there slack jawed as Colbert hurried away as if he had just past on some sort of terrible secret in some sort of political conspiracy. Saito mentally corrected himself. He'd been told terrible secrets to political conspiracies before, they were much less likely to get him killed. Shaking his head in amazement Saito wandered off to find some breakfast and think about what he'd been told. Louise was probably still going to be steamed later.

"My queen, please be reasonable." The elderly advisor Bishop Madolene admonished. "I realize that you find such things distasteful, but please think of the kingdom."

"I have no intention of continuing with these politically motivated marriage proposals your grace. Now that I have inducted Louise into my family, she is second to the throne and will take her place in succession should anything happen to me." Henrietta pronounced.

"Your majesty, please, you have no idea what this is going to do to the kingdom. While the Valliere family _is_ respected, you are STILL expected to at least TRY to produce an heir to the throne. The shift in power within the country could cause strife and civil war. The duke is not without his enemies who would be most discomfited to find his house in power. The simple fact of the matter also stands that Lady Louise is also as yet unmarried and has not produced an heir either." The old advisor ranted.

Henrietta sighed. She had wanted to avoid this situation as much as possible, and now she found herself cornered. If she didn't find someone to marry there was going to be civil war as power suddenly shifted around where people stood with the Valliere family. Her thoughts went back to Wales, and it felt like getting married to anyone would be like betraying his memory. Not for the first time Henrietta wished she could be free to do as she pleased like Louise. She envied the girl all the things that she took for granted. Then unbidden her thoughts drifted like they always did when she thought of her friend. Before she knew it she was seeing his face in front of her eyes as she stared out the window.

"Perhaps her majesty has someone already in mind, and for that reason wishes to distance herself from all other suitors?" The bishop asked hopefully.

Henrietta was startled out of her reverie to see the old man staring at her kindly. If the man only knew...

"No your grace, no one in particular. Please tell me, is there anything in the law that would allow me to remain unwed? I'm sure if we can wait until Louise has given birth that I can adopt her child as my own or something." Henrietta bargained.

"It still doesn't solve the problem of having the throne connected to the Valliere family name. Surely there's some nobleman who can win your majesty's heart?" The aged cleric bargained.

Henrietta thought of Saito again and shook her head. While he was now her knight and a noble, he was also in love with Louise and would most likely be marrying her. True, it would solve a lot of her problems since he belonged to no established house and as such wouldn't shift power towards anyone, she just couldn't do that to Louise. "I do not wish to marry anyone I do not love, and the only man I've every loved is dead your grace."

The old bishop scratched at his chin and idly pulled his fingers through his beard like he always did when he was thinking. "There is, perhaps, another way your majesty..."

**A/N: I'm hoping to keep a weekly posting schedule, since the only REAL off time I have is on Saturday nights when I can write/post. Join us next week when we'll hear Siesta say... "Now master, let's get you out of those clothes..."**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I couldn't resist the urge to post two chapters tonight. I started writing this story in April of 2010 and it just sat on my hard drive for nearly two years waiting to be posted. Oh well, I guess better late than never.**

Chapter 2.

Saito sat on the edge of the bed thinking about his time with Louise. It seemed like every time he'd every been aggressive with the girl she'd been even angrier with him. Of course on the other hand the only other times he was really assertive with her had been when he had been trying to do something dangerous that she didn't want him to do. The young man was still lost in thought when his equally young maid appeared.

"Hello master." Siesta said sweetly as she came in carrying Louise's laundry. While technically his maid, she instead ended up doing Louise's laundry since Saito didn't own many clothes. Truth be known the young knight didn't really own anything aside from his sword and Siesta, though he disliked the idea of _owning_ her. Still, it kept other nobles from taking advantage of her beauty so he tolerated it.

"Hello Siesta." Saito replied watching the girl go about the chores that used to be his. He simply had to figure out how to talk to Louise.

"Are you feeling well master?" Siesta said leaning over to put her forehead against his. Saito gulped as the girl's generous bosom brushed against his chest and he began to sweat. "It feels like you're getting warm."

"I... I..." The hapless boy stammered.

"Sai-to!" Louise growled from the door as she returned from class. "This morning I wake up to find this girl all over you, I chase you out into the commons to find you relaxing in Tabitha's lap kissing on her, and now I catch you flirting with the maid AGAIN?"

Saito didn't have time to think. Louise's wand was already rising as the boy jumped to his feet depositing Siesta on the bed and snatched Louise's wand from her hand. "Louise, that is enough."

His voice was a little harsher than he intended, and he really hoped he wasn't going to get killed for this. Agnes had trained him well. In close range a skilled fighter could disarm a mage before they could get off all but the simplest of spells. A good swordsman could stick a blade in so quickly that a mage couldn't hope to survive against them. While he didn't plan on sticking anything in Louise... wait, bad choice of words, he had to focus right now or he'd lose his train of thought.

"Who do you think you are addressing you lowly..."

"I said that's enough!" Saito shouted, and with a swift swipe of his hand swatted Louise across the rear.

Saito looked up to see anger, pain, emotional hurt, almost every expression one never wants to see on the face of the person you love crossing Louise's face simultaneously. It was tearing him up, but he had to keep his cool. Louise's voice trembled as she lowered her head. "I see, well then I hope you're happy together."

Saito barely grabbed her hand before she could dart from the room. "Will you please listen to me for a moment? The headmaster is getting tired of repairing the damage you do to the campus with your magic Louise. No more blasting things when you get angry."

Saito turned and placed the wand carefully down on the table before going to sit down on the bed next to Siesta. The young maid had love, hope, anticipation, almost every emotion you wanted to see running across the face of someone you cared for, racing across her features. Saito closed his eyes and tenderly took her hands before glancing up to see Louise still fuming.

"I'm sorry Siesta, but I love Louise." The boy said as gently as he could looking in her eyes sadly. "I know you love me, but I love Louise, and its upsetting to her when you come in and climb all over me."

Siesta lowered her eyes and Saito could see a few tears falling into her lap. He didn't dare look at Louise. Siesta calmly returned his hand to his lap and stood. Saito wasn't going to stop her. As much as he hated to admit it, running after her and embracing her to keep her from hating him would just keep the problem going.

Instead of running from the room though, Siesta merely walked over to Louise before dropping to her knees and prostrating her self in front of the astonished Louise. "I have lost. He belongs to you. Please... please accept me... mistress."

Louise seemed to get a strange look in her eyes as she stared at Saito. The boy didn't have a clue what was going on. Finally, Louise nodded. "Very well Siesta, your master and I skipped breakfast. Could you please bring us something to eat?"

"Yes mistress." Siesta said with a sniffle before getting up to go about her duties.

Saito got up and sat down at the table as his maid left. "I really hated having to do that." He said miserably.

"I know. I didn't want to see her hurt anymore that's why I accepted her." Louise said gently as she walked behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I promise I won't blow anything else up either."

"What was all that stuff about being accepted? I didn't understand any of it." Saito asked curiously.

"Siesta is acknowledging your feelings for me, and was asking if she could continue to serve you." Louise said simply. "In our culture, a nobleman might have any number of commoners working for him, but his wife has final say over any young women that serve him personally."

"So even though the queen gave Siesta to me as a maid, you could still send her away?" Saito asked.

"No, she is your property, and I cannot go against the queen's orders. I'm also not your wife, though being your master might still qualify. It's just that Siesta wouldn't be allowed to lay a hand on you or you her if I did not accept her as your personal servant." Louise explained. "I thought you would be angry if I went that far."

Louise released him and crossed the room to her side of the table. She sat down and looked reasonably happy when the door opened and Siesta entered pushing a small cart with brunch. The girl looked as if nothing had happened.

"This is making my head hurt. I really don't understand all the things about your culture." Saito said as Siesta served them some light pastries and tea.

"You'll get used to it." Siesta said kissing him on the cheek and winking at him.

Saito brought his hand to his cheek and quickly looked at Louise who was sipping her tea as if nothing had happened. "Uh, Louise I..."

"Yes?" The girl asked. She was looking at him as if he were an idiot.

"You aren't angry with me?" The skittish knight said looking at a smiling Siesta next to him.

"No. She's your property, take her virginity if it pleases you. _Jus Primae Noctis_." Louise said dismissively.

"But this morning you nearly killed me when all she did was kiss me!" Saito shouted in alarm.

"This morning she was my rival. Now she's my servant." Louise said as if this explained everything.

"May I mistress?" Siesta asked Louise softly, indicating Saito.

"Go ahead, he'll probably understand it better if you explain it to him anyway. I have to finish up here and get to my next class." Louise responded.

Saito looked on in confusion and alarm as Siesta promptly took a seat in his lap. She then curled her arms around his neck and pressed him close. Through all this Louise didn't even give it a second glance as she quietly ate her breakfast.

"Master do you remember when you first arrived here how you told me that it shocked you that mistress would take her clothes off in front of you without any hesitation?" Siesta quizzed the boy.

"Uh, yes."

"That's because you were her servant. I know it is different for you, not being from this culture, but here servants do not matter. Nakedness in front of a servant is the same as being naked alone." Siesta explained.

"I figured that much out already, but I still think it's crazy." Saito complained.

"And just like it doesn't matter what a servant sees it also doesn't matter what happens to a servant." Siesta continued.

"And I like that part even less." The youthful knight replied. He didn't like where this was going. "Is that what this _Jus Primae Noctis_ means?"

"It means 'law of the first night'. As her master you have the right to determine when and if she can marry, and you also have the right to claim her virginity for your own before doing so." Louise said simply.

"You mean you nobles treat common girls like they're all your whores? That's barbaric!" Saito roared. "I can't do that! I'd be no better than that stupid Count Mott that tried to take you away from the academy!"

More so than when he confessed his feelings for Louise in front of her, Siesta looked even more hurt. "Master how would you have handled my feelings for you in your world?"

"In my world, once two people are married that's supposed to be it. No other people are allowed to intrude on that relationship. I'm sorry Siesta, but after choosing Louise we could have remained friends but you would have had to find someone else to share your life with." Saito confessed.

"If it meant I would have never been given the chance to be with you, then I don't think I like your culture." Siesta whimpered.

"No wonder you were so hesitant to rebuke her." Louise whispered as realization dawned on her. "You were expecting to have to send her away forever."

"Well, we could have been friends, but that's all. She would have to find someone else to love." Saito pressed. He still wasn't getting all of this. "Could you really be happy, the person you love being with someone else?"

"Saito, I don't want anyone else to love. I _chose_ to become your property, and I _chose_ to offer myself to mistress Louise. I will always be with you by your side until you decide to send me away. That makes me happy. You aren't the same man the Count was. I know you would never force yourself on me, and I know you care about me, and I know you'll always care for and protect me. What more should I need?" Siesta reasoned.

"I think it's going to take a while for this to sink in for Saito." Louise admitted. "He wasn't raised in our culture so it's going to take a while for him to become accustomed to all the nuances."

"Yes mistress." Siesta said sadly. Saito couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had a girlfriend apparently willing within the course of one hour to go from killing him for kissing another girl to being completely comfortable with the idea of him having a mistress. Furthermore, said mistress was sounding exasperated with him for not jumping at the chance to turn her into his whore. This culture was _whacked_.

Louise was getting up to get ready for her next class when a knock came at the door. Siesta obediently got up and answered it to find Agnes on the other side.

"I've got a message for Louise and Saito." The captain of the queen's guard reported crisply.

"Lady Agnes to see you mistress." Siesta said with a proper curtsy even though everyone there was able to hear each other clearly.

Agnes came in and handed a letter to Louise. "What's his problem?" She asked jerking a thumb rudely in his direction.

"Culture shock I think." Louise replied dismissively reading the letter. Saito wasn't aware his expression had been that readable.

Agnes merely snorted and stalked out the door. The woman never seemed to be particularly happy, but ever since discovering the truth about Professor Colbert she seemed to be in an even worse mood when coming to the academy.

"Anything important?" Saito said finally allowing his hunger to drive him to eat some cake.

"Not really, it looks like Henrietta is inviting us to dinner at the palace this evening." Louise said folding up the letter and putting it away in her cloak.

"Will there be anything else mistress?" Siesta asked.

Louise looked at the girl and then studied Saito carefully. "Yes, there is. I'm tired of this dog embarrassing me in polite society. He's the queen's knight and a noble now so it's time he started acting like one. Bathe him, and see if you can find him some proper clothes to eat with her majesty in. Teach him how a noble is supposed to interact with his servant."

"Yes mistress." Siesta promised. Saito noticed a deep blush spreading across her cheeks and he began to feel uncomfortable.

Louise was also looking at him uneasily. "And Siesta, I intend to be Saito's first just as he will be mine. If you push him too far I fear he might not be able to control himself so... go easy on him."

Siesta was obviously crestfallen. "Yes mistress."

Saito gulped as Louise left for her next class with a satisfied smirk on her face. He had no idea what he had just gotten himself into. Correction, apparently he'd been into it since day one and was just NOW starting to figure out how deep.

Saito looked up at Siesta in trepidation as the cute little maid got a predatory gleam in her eye. "Now master, let's get you out of those clothes..."

**A/N: Well, the story is off and running. I'll post the next chapter next week. I'll try to get one chapter a week for a while. My work schedule is pretty full but I'll do my best. Let me know how you're liking the newest episodes of the anime. I'm loving them.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I was quite surprised watching the latest episodes that have been released in the new season. There are elements here and there that I had envisioned in my story as well. I hope you guys are enjoying the new season as much as I am, and I hope you find this story a pleasant read as well.**

Chapter 3.

"I can't believe this is happening to me." Saito whined as Siesta drug him bodily towards her room. After all the times she'd insisted on sleeping in the same bad as him and Louise, finding out she actually _did_ have a room was a bit disturbing. Saito looked in to the room where she'd brought him that disastrous day to play house and whimpered, then he noticed something.

"I wondered where my tub had gotten off to." The nobleman said looking at the large tub he'd salvaged for a bath. It looked like it now served to do his laundry and everything else. Most of the furniture in the room had been removed to make room for it.

"The groundskeeper wanted it removed since the fire you lit under it was killing the grass." Siesta said happily as she set a large cauldron to boiling on the fire in the fireplace. "I'll have your bath ready in just a moment master."

Saito looked around the room at the sparse other furniture. "I guess making room for it was the reason you started sleeping in the same bed with me and Louise."

"No, I just wanted to sleep next to you. I hope mistress still allows me that luxury." Siesta said as she wandered around gathering things from around the room.

"I'm sorry Siesta, all this stuff about master and servant doesn't really have to..." Saito began to apologize.

"Yes, it does." Siesta pressed seriously. "Master... Saito, it is the way of life here. I thought that perhaps I could have stolen you away from Louise, but I was wrong. It doesn't mean that we can't be together, it just means that I won't be your first love."

"And, you're alright with that?" Saito asked dubiously.

"It stings at first knowing that you love her as much as you do, but I don't see the mistress accepting any other servants to be close to you apart from me so it will be fine." Siesta said holding up some pieces of fabric against his chest. "I think you will look best in royal blue and pearl grey."

"What are you doing?" The curious boy asked.

"I've been making you some clothes so you'll look more like a native here rather than always wearing the same thing all the time. I'll just make them look a little fancier for your dinner with the queen tonight." The maid explained. She then looked at Saito seriously. "And I'm going to teach you how to act like a noble. Let's get you undressed."

Saito was immediately uneasy as his hand strayed towards his shirt guardedly. It was promptly slapped by Siesta. "Lesson one, nobles are always dressed by their servants. Don't you dare move."

The young Japanese boy stood there while Siesta began to undress him down to his boxers. From the blush on her cheeks she was definitely enjoying herself. "It's a shame mistress said I wasn't allowed to push you."

"I was afraid you were going to get in the bath with me." Saito said nervously.

"I plan on it. I can't get my uniform wet bathing you now can I?" Siesta said sweetly. That was all the warning he got before his boxers and his dignity left him.

Saito quickly jumped into the tub, the cold water doing wonders to keep things under control.

"Meanie." Siesta pouted. She then began undressing. Saito averted his eyes until she poured the hot water into the tub to warm it and joined him. Once again he found himself bathing with a beautiful young woman.

"Siesta, why do you want this? Why would you want to live like this as my property? Why do you insist on following me even when I love someone else?" Saito asked seriously as Siesta began to wash him, making sure he saw as much of her as possible.

"I've never met anyone like you Saito. Even beyond being the handsome hero who fights for those he loves, you are more kind and caring than anyone else I've met. I've been pursued by lots of men, but never has any of them meant as much to me as what you do. You show me more kindness and affection being your second love than most men do to their one and only. I guess that's why I'll be satisfied if this is all there is." The beautiful maiden explained as she gently rubbed soap all over his body.

"But how does having a mistress even work? I mean, in my culture even the thought of having another woman is just about grounds for divorce." Saito whimpered as he was cleaned.

"There are many times in which a noble husband and wife cannot be together. Business that causes them to be separated, pregnancy, a woman's monthly..."

"Not listening to that part! LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA" Saito nearly screamed putting his fingers in his ears. This earned him a slap on the hands from his servant.

"Well, you _did_ ask. Marriages among nobles are frequently for convenience, so it isn't surprising that the two of them would have lovers." Siesta explained.

"Wait a minute... both of them?" Saito deadpanned.

"Men can be so jealous though." Siesta continued somberly. "Nobles have a tendency to eliminate their enemies in love even when they're servants. It isn't over you know."

"What? But... but..."

"Louise isn't going to punish you for things that happen anymore, don't worry about that. But she and I will never stop vying to be the one you love the most. Someday... maybe you'll only look at me." Siesta said seriously.

"I don't think I could handle Louise having another lover." Saito confided.

"I don't think she will. If she showed affection to someone else she'd probably be afraid that I'd steal your heart from her." Siesta said sadly. "Maybe I could set her up with someone..."

Saito grabbed his maid and pinned her against the edge of the tub before capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. "Behave."

"Yes master." The lovely young girl gushed.

The young swordsman was washed _everywhere_, dried _everywhere_, and was finally dressed... slowly. It was during this that he came to realize how devious these girls were. Louise had sadistically ordered Siesta to do this without making him lose control, and for her part Siesta had tried her best to do just that while trying to make it look like all she'd done was follow orders. "How am I ever going to survive this?"

* * *

><p>"And you're okay with that?" Saito again said in astonishment. It was like he wasn't talking to Louise.<p>

"Saito, I don't need to hear about every little thing you do to the help." Louise replied waspishly. "So you kissed her, it's not like you slept with her."

Saito just stared at Louise. After hearing her say it, he couldn't help it any longer. "Louise, I can't do this."

Louise actually seemed to soften a bit as she looked at him. They were alone in the carriage headed to the palace. Even the driver wouldn't be able to hear. "So... you only have eyes for me. I guess it's only natural since I'm your master." The young sorceress replied smugly.

"It's not that. Siesta said that noblewomen sometimes take lovers from among their servants as well. I don't want that kind of relationship." The swordsman explained.

"You're a noble now Saito, I'm not going to make you stand by while I marry another." Louise said impatiently.

"That's not what I mean. I don't want you to have a lover that isn't... me." The young man said heavily. "Siesta even offered to hook you up with one in order to turn your attention off me. I can't live with the idea of anyone else touching you. Even if it meant sending Siesta away in order for it to be fair to you, I can't share you with anyone."

Saito looked up to see tears brimming in Louise's eyes at the sentiment. She was just about to reply when the carriage stopped. "We've arrived Lord Saito, Lady Louise."

Saito and Louise stepped out of the carriage to be met by Agnes. "You two follow me."

"We're not dining in the main hall?" Louise asked in confusion.

"No, this isn't a formal dinner." The woman replied roughly, looking at Saito's new clothes in disgust. "You're dining in Her Majesty's sitting room with her tonight... privately."

As Agnes led the two of them towards Henrietta's apartments Louise took Saito's arm and squeezed, hard. "If you embarrass me tonight in front of Her Majesty, so help me you dog I'll order Siesta to beat you after _my_ arm gets tired."

_That's my Louise._ Saito thought happily. Maybe tonight would go alright after all. With luck, Louise would only yell at him all the way home for what was going to be his inevitable breach of etiquette.

* * *

><p>The prisoner blinked her eyes looking up at her captors. She hadn't been beaten or tortured, but then her keepers hadn't been overly gently either. Bedraggled and disheveled she was dragged through the corridors toward some unseen fate. Her guards pulled her along silently. They hadn't said a word as she had been loaded onto the ship, or moved to the wagon. In a way she was glad it was finally over. She would meet her death with the dignity of a noble even if she no longer were.<p>

She hadn't looked up as they removed her from the wagon. She didn't know where she was nor did she care. She'd just as soon not see the gallows.

She was vaguely aware of a door opening up, and she was roughly deposited on a carpeted floor. Her clothes were little more than rags now and she'd lost her wand long ago. All that was left now was to die.

"Leave us." An elderly voice said imperiously. The guards turned and left her there. Then the next words made her blood run cold. "I see they're purple today."

Matilda looked up from the carpet into the face of the old headmaster and her former boss in undisguised hatred. "They've been purple for months now thanks to your vermin."

"I see." Osmond said as he scribbled away at the papers on his desk, before shuffling through a stack to his right. "Let's see I think the report is here somewhere. Ah, yes. You were caught trying to sneak back into Albion by the military shortly after the Battle of Tarbes. Since then you've been incarcerated as a prisoner of war, awaiting acknowledgement and negotiation of your release."

"No acknowledgement of my existence will come." Matilda replied bitterly.

"Quite right, the Albion aristocracy disavows any knowledge of your activities. Not surprising since you weren't allied with them but with the shadow group that took over that government. You reported directly to the late Master Ward I believe." Osmond continued looking over the report.

"Just kill me and get it over with, or am I here to sate your lust first?" The dirt caked mage spat at the old man.

"I'm afraid that wouldn't be possible. I haven't been capable of that in years. However it is nice to see your panties again Ms. Longueville." Osmond replied happily.

"It's Matilda."

"I know your name." Osmond said directly, setting aside his report. "You are Matilda Longueville from South Gotha, also known as Fouquet of the crumbling dirt. Your father, was bankrupted by unscrupulous merchants from Tristain and was left destitute and stripped of his title to pay his debts. You were ruined along with him. You became Fouquet and came to Tristain seeking revenge and a way to regain your father's wealth by stealing from the nobles here. You were recruited by Ward when he caught you trying to steal from the palace and became part of the plot to take over Albion. What confuses me is why you would turn on your own government."

"Those vultures knew my father. They did nothing but smile and greet the Tristain dogs that drove my father to dishonor. They never even came to see him after he got sick. When Ward gave me the chance to take over their government and eventually invade Tristain I jumped at the idea." The young sorceress shot back. "So what do you want from me, some tear filled apology for what I did? I'm not going to play your game old man."

"Nothing of the sort. I'm simply using this as an opportunity to exchange information." The headmaster said simply as he stood and turned to look out the window. Fouquet stared at his back and wished she had a dagger.

"I know nothing other than what Ward told me. I worked for him alone." Matilda said curtly. It wouldn't matter if they tortured her, because it was the truth.

"I know." The old man said sadly. "The information I am sharing is on my part. After your defeat at Tarbes Village, Tristain invaded Albion with the help of Germania. They managed to reach as far as South Gotha during the invasion. The new Albion government, the one you helped support, abandoned your people and fled leaving the citizens without food."

"Papa..." Matilda whispered.

"That was when her majesty the queen arrived in South Gotha on the Silver Pentecost. She shared the food the military had brought with them to keep your people from starving, and helped evacuate the town when the new government used a magic poison to turn her own soldiers and part of the townsfolk into mindless zombies before staging a counter attack." Osmond told her.

"You lie!" The former insurgent spat at him.

"If you do not believe me, then you may read it here." Osmond said waving his staff. A stack of letters floated up off the table and settled in front of her on the floor. "They've continued coming here since your departure. You will be pleased to know that your father was safely evacuated from South Gotha and has since safely returned home after the end of the hostilities where he has been living comfortably."

"But... how? I was caught with all the money I'd stolen." Matilda asked in stunned disbelief.

"In his letters, your father expresses his gratitude for the money you have been sending to him from your job here. He would also be happy if you would write to him." Osmond continued. "My apologies. At the time I believed they might have had useful information in them, but now I've come to realize he was completely unaware of your activities."

"You've been... sending him my salary?"

"Yes, Ms. Longueville, I have. It might surprise you to know that I wasn't very surprised when you betrayed me." The old headmaster replied with a long suffering sigh. "You might also be surprised at how many spies have served in your office over the years. The only thing that I didn't know when you were here was who you were working for or why. When you came to work here I investigated you and learned of your father's circumstances. Most young women who come into my employ leave very quickly. I have no idea why. The only ones who stay are the ones who simply have no choice but to put up with my constant sexual harassment. That usually means they're spies."

"So... why am I here now?" Matilda asked.

"Because your work has been piling up." Osmond replied pointing at a desk that was overflowing with paperwork. "Since all those who were captured fighting for Albion in the war have been allowed to return home and no one there has laid claim to you, the only thing that remains is your sentence for the thefts that you committed while you were here. You will be serving your sentence here at your post, and your salary will continue to be sent to your father so he may live out his days without worry."

Matilda finally stood, facing the old man and cradling the letters to her chest. She couldn't help but shed tears knowing her father was safe and cared for. "Thank you." She whispered.

"It is good to have you back Ms. Longueville." Osmond said coming around the desk to give her a hug. She moved his hand up from her bottom to her back out of habit and then turned to go.

"And Ms. Longueville, once you've had a chance to get cleaned up and settled back into your old room please change your underwear to a different color." Osmond said slyly as he gently petted his mouse familiar. "It isn't any fun if I can see what color they are through the tatters."

**A/N: It took me three days to write that bath scene, what with the nosebleeds and all. When the latest season started and they had the scene with Saito and Louise dining with Henrietta I nearly cried manly tears of joy. I'll let you guys compare the quite different outcome the dinner in this story had next week. Until then... Behave. (Bloody nosebleeds...)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Episode seven of the new season is out today on the website where I watch anime. I hope everyone else is enjoying them as much as I am. Anyway, I present to you my next installment. Enjoy the drama...**

Chapter 4.

Saito held the chair out for Louise and Henrietta and then took his seat at the small table in Henrietta's apartments inside the palace. A nice soup was served to the three of them and then Henrietta promptly dismissed the guards and the servants.

"Do you have a new mission for us Majesty?" Louise said uneasily. Saito could understand her uneasiness, they hadn't had a mission since coming back from Gallia after rescuing Tabitha. Truth be told, everything had been quiet around the palace until today.

"No, there's no mission, I just wanted to be able to have a meal with the two of you and to speak to you." Henrietta said with a deep melancholy in her voice. "Please, Louise. Just call me Henrietta when we're alone like this. You too Saito."

"If... if that is your wish." Louise said looking more uncomfortable by the moment. She was also making sidelong glances at him for some reason. Saito tried to figure out what she was thinking but she was unreadable. "So how have things been with you about the palace recently? All is well?"

"It's the usual." Henrietta said putting down her spoon. Saito noticed her eyes hadn't left her bowl and her hands were shaking uncontrollably. "They want me to get married soon and provide an heir to the throne."

"I see." Louise said cryptically. She was now staring at her own bowl. "And have you..."

"I've been considering the question you asked me a few weeks ago." Henrietta interrupted. "I'm sorry Louise, the answer is 'no'. I don't think I could accept anyone else."

At this point Henrietta had begun to cry, her tears falling into her lap. Not since the death of Wales had Saito seen her so upset. "I realize it hurts you, and whatever consequences you might wish I will accept. I'm sorry Louise. I am so sorry."

"Louise... what is going on?" Saito asked in dismay. He had no idea what these two were talking about, but seeing Henrietta in tears was upsetting to him and Louise looked like she was ready to follow suit.

"Saito." Henrietta said quietly. "Will you marry me?"

The impact of those words slowly filtered through Saito's sluggish mind. A queen was asking him to marry her. The power and wealth being laid before him was beyond reckoning. Then looking past that at Henrietta as a person the promise of a lifetime in the arms of such a kind and beautiful woman was priceless beyond measure. Saito sat there stunned out of his mind. He supposed it was only instinct or perhaps his heart that guided him in that moment.

"Never. I'm sorry, but I love Louise, now and forever and I will never leave her." The young noble said standing and readying himself to go. He reached for Louise's arm to pull her along as he left but something kept the small girl rooted to the spot. "Come on Louise, we need to go."

"Then I have no choice. If it means my honor so be it. Louise please lend me your future husband's strength." Henrietta said sobbing into her napkin. "_Jus Primae Noctis._"

"Sai-to... YOU IDIOT!" Louise screamed hitting him in the crotch... hard.

As Saito tasted carpet, his addled thinking tried to wrap itself around what was happening. He failed miserably. He had no idea what was going on, why, or where to turn. All he could do was lay there, in pain, wondering what to do now.

Louise stood and with tears in her eyes knelt in front of Henrietta. "Do not worry Your Majesty. I will not fail you. I will speak to him about this tonight. You can expect a favorable decision tomorrow."

At this Henrietta began to weep even more bitterly as Louise jerked Saito up and strode purposefully out of the room. Saito didn't manage to get a word in as he was dragged out of the palace through mysteriously empty halls and thrown bodily back into the carriage. He thought his ordeal was over until Louise ordered the carriage to return to the academy and then promptly snatched the driver's whip out of his hands before diving into the carriage on top of him thrashing him soundly.

"YOU STUPID, STUPID, STUPID DOG! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! WHY! WHY DID I HAVE TO SUMMON SUCH A WORTHLESS, HORRIBLE BEAST OF A FAMILIAR!" The young woman screamed beating him senseless. Saito couldn't really remember much after that. All he remembered was being beaten while Louise screamed at him. He slipped in and out of consciousness until finally he came too being dragged to his room between Guiche and Malicorne who were exchanging worried looks looking from him to Louise who was still fuming.

"What did he do for you to beat him so hard?" He heard Siesta yelling next as Guiche and Malicorne deposited him in the bed and then quickly left; wisely wanting to stay out of the middle of his chaotic love life.

Soft hands daubed his wounds with cool water. "Stay away from him Siesta."

"Please Louise, you accepted me as..."

"He's no longer ours." Louise said darkly. Saito was afraid the beatings were about to begin again, but he opened his eyes to see Louise sitting at their table with red puffy eyes and Siesta looking at her in dismay.

"What... what happened?" Saito said weakly as he struggled to sit up.

"You're engaged." Louise replied simply.

"To who?" The young boy said in shock. "I told Henrietta..."

Siesta sucked in a breath, and looked at Saito heartbroken.

"You told our _queen_ something stupid that will never be spoken of again." Louise said hotly.

"Louise. I don't understand. I thought you would be happy that..." Saito pleaded.

"I AM!" Louise screamed irrationally. "But that just makes it hurt that much more."

"Please tell me what happened." The young maid asked her mistress.

"A few weeks ago, I caught Saito kissing the queen at the ball." Louise started.

"I know, I seem to remember we were trying to get to the bottom of that with that magic spyglass we got from Tiffania." Siesta said nodding.

"I talked to Hen... I spoke to the queen about it before we left for Gallia. I basically asked her what her intentions were toward Saito. She told me that she really envied having someone there to rely on that could protect her and be there for her and that it was in a moment of weakness that she kissed Saito while disguised as me and then tried to kiss him again after the illusions were dropped. I asked her then if any other man would do for her, and she said she didn't know. Then I told her that Saito was mine and I threatened her." Louise explained.

"You threatened Henrietta over me?" Saito yelled sitting upright in the bed, only to encounter Siesta's hand on his face which slammed him back down.

"How could you ever threaten the queen?" Siesta pressed.

"I threatened her with the only thing I have that would mean anything to her; my friendship. I told her that if she laid her hand on Saito she would have to face the consequences. And now she's decided to face them." Louise continued.

"What consequences? I'm getting lost here!" Saito complained sitting up again. This time Siesta pushed him down harder and sat down on his chest and not in a cute way either.

Louise sighed and seemed to grow depressed. "The queen is being forced to marry and produce an heir. The people want stability, and the only way they can get that is if there a sense of continuity to our nation. Without an heir civil war will break out eventually and after all the fighting we've had this year it would spell disaster for Tristain. She's decided that she loves you Saito. No other man will do for her. She loves you enough to... to sacrifice her friendship to me. When you turned down her proposal of marriage, and declared your undying love for me, it meant she had no choice but to claim Jus Primae Noctis. She wants you to father her children, even if it costs her everything; including her reputation."

Siesta was nearly in tears. "So you're giving up your claim on Saito?"

Louise nodded. Saito had just about heard enough. "So nobody cares what I think about all of this? Nobody cares about my feelings?"

Saito sat up in the bed and stood up picking up Siesta as he went. He stood there with the shocked girl in his arms, before tossing her down on the bed. "This morning, you were ready to kill me for getting kissed by Siesta, then you were fine with me having her, and now you're giving up on a relationship with me? What IS this?"

"Saito, you can still be with Siesta. I know Henrietta. She won't make you send her away, especially under the circumstances. It's different in our case." Louise whined as for the first time she seemed to cower before his rage.

"HOW? How is it different? Is it because she's only a commoner? You're alright with her being a part of our relationship as long as she's beneath you, but the second someone above you gets in the way it suddenly changes?" Saito roared. "Why is it always about station with you people? You'll gladly go off to die because someone above you asks you to but you'll treat someone you consider beneath you like dirt. I can't take this anymore!"

"It's because I can't compete with her!" Louise yelled back with tears in her eyes.

"Compete?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes, compete. It's not just about station or doing it for my people, though that's important too. I know I'm hard to get along with Saito. The queen is everything I'm not; she's beautiful, elegant, graceful, kind, and loving. How could anyone possibly love me over that. It was hard enough trying to look myself in the mirror when I knew I didn't measure up to Siesta, but at least I had my upbringing and my nobility. Against Henrietta I've lost. I see in her all the qualities I've ever aspired to, but failed to emulate. If you had half a brain then of course you'd love her more you stupid dog!" Louise cried out in pain.

"I don't CARE how wonderful she is. I don't love her. Not like I love you! Louise, I care for Siesta, Henrietta, all my friends, but I care for you the most. I don't _want_ to fall in love with anyone else." Saito begged.

Saito sat down at the table and began banging his head against it in frustration. The two women in his life, or rather two _of_ the women in his life grabbed him by the shoulders to stop him forcefully. Tears were in his eyes, as he looked into Louise's face as she sat in his lap, while Siesta had her arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind. "Saito, please. I know you don't care about station, nobility, or even this country in particular, but I do know you care about Henrietta. Please, it has to be this way. If you love me, if you've ever loved me, promise me you'll marry Henrietta. She's probably going to be here tomorrow. She's going to be grief stricken and ask us to forget everything that was said. She doesn't want to have to do this either, but she feels that she must for the sake of the kingdom. We can't let her give in. When she arrives, please ask her to marry you. Promise me... please?"

"I can't live without you Louise." Saito said weeping. "I don't know if I can promise that to you."

"I know my love." Louise said gently. "Regardless of whether or not someone is a noble or a commoner, life is still seldom fair. I'll see you in the morning."

"Where are you going?" The young warrior asked.

"I'm going to go stay in Siesta's room tonight. We need to talk." Louise said pulling a distraught Siesta after her. "We'll talk about this more later."

The door closed behind the two and Saito sat down on the edge of the bed trying to think. He wished now he'd never agreed to be a knight. He wished now he'd never kissed Henrietta, or agreed to be her bodyguard. He wished he'd been able to save Wales. It felt like everything that was happening now was the culmination of all of his failures.

"Too bad partner, I figured you were getting lucky tonight for sure." His sword replied from the corner. "You still haven't managed to make Louise yours."

"And it's beginning to look like I never will. Every time. Every _bloody_ time we start to get closer something else comes in to drag us apart." Saito griped. "We finally had things resolved with Siesta and we were moving forward, only now I have to deal with Henrietta. Who's next, Tifa?"

"I was thinking Tabitha in all likelihood, but who knows, Tiffania might slip in there next." The intelligent blade of legend replied candidly.

"You aren't helping me out here you know."

**A/N: I had to laugh when I saw the scene in the new season with them eating together with Henrietta in her private rooms.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: I just watched episode eight of the new season. I actually saw some things I'd already written about in later chapters. I could only laugh. Anyway, I won't spoil the story or the anime for you. Episode 8 is a must watch in my opinion.**

Chapter 5.

Dawn arrived as it usually did over the land of Tristain, light pouring over the countryside filling in the cracks where night reluctantly let loose it's tenuous grip on the morning. At the magical academy of Tristain, the peaceful morning was getting off to its usual start.

"SAITO!" Louise was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Saito sat up like a shot in the bed. He looked to where Louise always lay to see nothing there. Instead the pounding of his head was keeping rhythm with the pounding of the door. Remembering the previous night's debacle, Saito dragged himself to the door and opened it to find Louise on the other side... in a maid outfit.

"I must still be dreaming." Saito said with a yawn as he reached out to cop a feel from the dream apparition in front of him. Upon feeling nothing, or at least the something that was often compared to nothing but was in fact quite soft, Saito's eyes opened wide to look down at Louise's red face as she simmered.

"Please... hurry... m-m-m-master. You need to get ready for later." Louise managed to stammer with murderous intent in her eyes.

Saito dragged her quickly into the room and slammed the door. "What are you doing?"

"I've come to get you ready to meet with the queen m-m-m-master." Louise managed, though it was obvious she wasn't very happy addressing him as 'master'.

"No, I mean why are you wearing that outfit? What stupidity is this?" Saito demanded.

"I've given up being a noble." Louise said sadly. "I asked Siesta to accept me as another of your servants. Henrietta told me that she would accept whatever consequences I demanded. So, I'm going to become your maid along with Siesta."

"But... why?"

"I thought it would be the only way you'd ever believe me that I love you more than anything else." Louise said softly. "I love you Saito, and if this is the only way, then so be it."

"Why won't you just marry me then?" Saito pressed.

"Because I love Henrietta too. She's lonely Saito. I failed to save Wales for her, and now she's hurting with no one else to turn too. Please. You're the only person she'll accept. Please ask her to marry you when she comes later today." Louise openly begged him.

A quiet knock at the window brought Saito's attention away from Louise to a cloaked figure outside room. "It looks like she's already here."

Saito opened the window to allow his queen and potential wife into the room. Louise immediately knelt as she pulled back her hood to look around. "Louise, what are you..."

"Good morning Your Majesty. Would you like me to bring breakfast to you?" Louise asked formally.

"Please Louise, please don't." Henrietta said sadly. "I've come to apologize."

"You can't." The void mage said swiftly. "You must see this through. It's the best for everyone."

"Louise, I lost my nerve." The queen said quickly. "What I said last night, I can't do it. I can't sacrifice our friendship just for an easy way out. Please marry Saito. I'll figure something else out."

"Even though you love him too?" Louise accused her childhood friend.

The stately young woman was quiet for sometime before she finally found her voice. "Yes, I care for Saito too. I've been jealous of you all this time with your freedom and having him all to yourself. I've been jealous of you having him to protect you and make you happy. But I must be strong, I'll just have to find a marriage of convenience."

Louise was looking pointedly at Saito. He wished she wasn't, but finally he swallowed hard and dove ahead. "Henrietta, will you marry me?"

Despite nodding, Louise looked like she was dying inside. Henrietta turned to him in astonishment as if he'd grown two heads. Finally she looked at Louise and shook her head. "Louise put you up to that Saito. I know how much you love her. I wish you loved me that much but I know it isn't true. I can't go around destroying your life together just for the sake of my own happiness."

Saito was grinding his teeth at the melodrama playing out in front if him. "What about your happiness? Isn't there any way we can all be happy together? What about this Just-Primal-Knocked-It stuff?"

"Just marry her you idiot." Louise said in exasperation. "As long as I'm with you I'll be happy."

"Yeah, but your father's going to freak and probably try to kill me afterwards." Saito complained.

"I hate to tell you this love but, there's probably going to be people that want you dead after you marry the queen anyway just so they can try to take your place at her side." Louise replied knowingly. "I can think of at least two."

"Four." Henrietta amended.

"See." Louise said motioning to her childhood friend and now bitter rival.

"That's one of the reasons I want Saito. Anyone else wouldn't be able to stand up to such men." Henrietta explained.

"Alright, I understand now. You're in a hard position, and I'm the only person you can turn to that you care about enough to marry. I get it. Just promise me one thing, both of you." Saito stated as he sat down heavily.

"What?" Louise asked.

"First, you're keeping your title." Saito said firmly. "I'm not going through with this if I know it's going to cost you so dearly. I believe you Louise. I understand that you love me and that you'd give anything up to be with me and that you're thinking of the welfare of your people and your best friend with this solution."

Louise looked ready to argue but something in his stare seemed to shut her up for once. "Okay."

"Secondly, Henrietta, I want to be with Louise. I will marry you, I will fight for you, I will give you children, but I cannot give you my heart. It already belongs to her. I _do_ care for you Henrietta, and some might say I even love you, but please don't make me send her away from my side. She is my master so that should suffice for a reason as to why we're always together, and if we must we'll keep our affair a secret. Just please allow us this, that is, if Louise will also take me like this. Agreed?" Saito said seriously.

"And what about me?" Siesta demanded opening the door quickly.

Saito just sort of sagged in defeat. "Siesta too."

"Agreed." Henrietta said quickly. "I never believed you'd actually marry me Saito. I thought that I'd have to use my powers as the queen to make you stay with me until I was pregnant and then hope that Louise would someday forgive me. I never wanted it to be that way. I never once believed that it would turn out like this, though. I wish I could be the one you loved the most, but if this is how you wish it, then so be it."

"Please Henrietta, your reputation must come first." Louise chided her friend.

"And will you take me like this too Louise?" Saito asked seriously. "Can you be happy like this? Your reputation would be harmed too if it got out."

"Please, people don't really care about me. At least not like they do about their queen. I'm Louise the Zero, remember?" Louise stated flatly.

"And as far as you're concerned, if it gets out they'll just see you as a philandering, filthy, no-good cheater, who can't keep it in his pants, and who constantly hurts our beloved queen whom he doesn't deserve." Siesta supplied helpfully.

"Basically, no change there." Louise shot back acidly. "If this keeps up we're going to have to start a schedule assigning everyone their own day to be with Saito."

"I already started one." Tabitha said handing a sheet of paper to Louise. She then started taking breakfast off the cart and putting it on the table. It took a moment for Saito to realize she was also dressed in a maid outfit.

"When?" Saito asked turning to Siesta.

"Came by and asked after Louise left this morning." His maid replied warmly.

"She must have heard us arguing last night." Louise reasoned.

"I think the whole castle probably heard us arguing last night." Saito put in just before an elbow from his diminutive girlfriend took the wind out of him.

* * *

><p>The next few days passed by far too slowly for Saito's taste. While he cared for Henrietta a great deal, and thought she was gorgeous, there were things about her personality that made him care for Louise more. They <em>both<em> had a melodramatic streak a mile wide that tended to lean towards altruistic martyrdom far more than he found comfortable. Louise was bad enough, but Henrietta elevated it to an art form. He supposed it was a good quality for people to have _in general_, but it could get annoying when it was a part of the person you wanted to spend a long enriching life with.

He supposed it was just some sort of unexplainable connection between him and Louise that made him desire and love her more than any other girl. He knew Siesta and Henrietta probably found this annoying in him but apparently both were willing to over look it for the sake of having him in their lives in one form or another.

His official title was going to be raised to that of a prince or perhaps a duke of some type, and had already been raised to that of royal champion. He was told by the bishop explaining the title to him that it meant that in cases if a personal duel or any matter pertaining to combat, the champion acted in the queen's place. He found this a bit disturbing in that apparently he could also lead the army of Tristain in the queen's absence.

The part that made him grind his teeth the most though was the wedding preparations. Agnes and Guiche were into it over who would act as the honor guard for the ceremony. Guiche insisted on the Undine Knights, while Agnes was equally emphatic about it being her musketeer squadron. Saito just let them argue and had avoided the two of them for the past few days.

With Saito now 'officially' out of the picture, Louise's family had set about trying to marry her off again. This was curtailed at least in the short term by Henrietta using that 'Knocked Up' rule again insisting that she wanted to find someone for Louise since she was now second in line for the throne until Henrietta delivered her first born.

Finally, the day arrived amid fanfare and great celebration with Undine Knights and musketeers in attendance with each knight (since they were all male) each escorting one musketeer (since they were all female). Guiche regretted this since as the leader of the Undines he was escorting Agnes to the wedding, which normally would have been punishment enough, but Montmorency had caught wind of it and was currently making Guiche's life miserable out of jealousy.

Saito looked at the royal robes he was expected to wear for the wedding and came to two conclusions. One, the reason nobles were always dressed by their servants was probably due to the effort required to be dressed up in the heavy clothing that as far as he could tell had been designed to be as uncomfortable as humanly possible. Most likely by a common tailor who was off somewhere secretly laughing. Second, the word 'regal' was apparently another word for 'stupid'.

"You look absolutely regal." Guiche said with a smile.

"I couldn't agree more." The young warrior said looking in the mirror at his reflection and frowning. "If I felt any more 'regal', I think I'd have to kill myself out of embarrassment."

"Stand still Saito." Siesta ordered as she finished putting the 'regal' looking collar around his neck that was composed of two parts lace and eight parts pins.

"Remind me why I'm doing this again?" Saito whined.

"Because if you don't, I won't be able to tell who kills you first, Louise or Henrietta." Siesta said with her brow furrowed in concentration as she finished putting the last pin in place. "Of course you know, I don't mind a life on the run if you want to skip all this, throw me over your shoulder, jump out the window, and run away into the sunset."

A long silence passed until Guiche cleared his throat. "I'm thinking..." The groomed young groom said pensively.

"Oh, how horrible for you having to go through with a marriage to one of the hottest, wealthiest, sweetest, and most powerful women in the realm." Guiche bemoaned sarcastically. "If you're looking for sympathy, go look in the dictionary. You'll find it somewhere before syphilis, and somewhere after sh..."

"GUICHE!" Agnes roared looking into the room.

"Here!" The cowed noble shouted saluting his female counterpart.

"Come on, we're nearly ready." The aggressive musketeer ordered pulling him out of the room.

"I better get going too." Siesta said quickly. "Remember, stand at the main doors and wait for the music to start, then join the queen at the altar."

"I thought the bride comes in to the groom at these things." Saito griped.

"She's the queen, _you_ come to _her_." The maid scolded. "It might be a bit different from normal weddings, but then they _are_ nobles..."

Saito nodded regally as his maid left him to stare at himself in the mirror. He couldn't shake the feeling he was making a terrible mistake even if Henrietta and Louise were alright with this.

Saito made his way to the large doors leading into the castle's chapel and stood there until he heard the music begin to play. As the doors opened he stood straight and walked toward the altar just as Louise had beaten into him over the past few days. Before him Henrietta waited in her royal wedding gown. Saito tried to imagine it was Louise waiting for him and hoped it helped him make it through this.

Saito marched past the assembled guests and the honor guard of musketeers and Undine Knights who lined the aisle to guard his approach to his queen and soon to be wife. He stopped a few steps before Henrietta and bowed as he'd been taught.

"Who comes forward to claim the hand of the Queen of Tristain as his own?" Bishop Madolene intoned formally for all to hear.

"I Chevalier Hiraga Saito, knight of the queen, come forward to claim my queen's hand in marriage, if she will have me." Saito recited.

"Does my queen find this man to be suitable?" The bishop continued.

"I find him the most worthy." Henrietta agreed tearfully.

"Then step forward Chevalier Hiraga Saito and take your rightful place at our queen's side, and place your hand over hers on the royal scepter. I will then bind your souls together for all eternity in holy wedlock." The bishop pronounced.

As Saito stepped forward and placed his hand over Henrietta's holding the scepter the bishop began to recite the ceremony to the gathered guests. Saito stood there and wished he could look to Louise for support. As the bishop slowly continued, Saito began to feel something was wrong. He began to smell something burning and when Henrietta's hand flexed beneath his, he looked down to realize that it was him. The hand that covered hers happened to be the one that had the rune on it and as he watched it was beginning to ignite with an intense burning light.

Saito looked at Henrietta worriedly, and she was staring in fascination at the back of his hand. Finally, with the pain being too great to bear, Saito yanked his hand away.

"Saito, what's wrong?" Henrietta cried worriedly as the pain continued to grow.

"I... I don't know..." Saito got out between clenched teeth as the light from his rune continued to grow brighter as the pain intensified.

The young Japanese boy then cried out in agony as he dropped to his knees and then collapsed the pain arcing through his body making it feel like he were on fire all over.

"Saito!" Henrietta was yelling now. "Someone please help him!"

All Saito was aware of through the pain as the light continued to burn painfully brighter was that people were holding him, he could hear Louise yelling in fear and even guests at the back of the chapel could see something was happening. The guards were barely able to hold back the tide of people wanting to see as people started yelling and screaming. Agnes was trying to regain order as the ceremony began to devolve into chaos.

"Hold on Saito." Tabitha was saying trying to support him. Saito could no longer see, all around him he heard people running and felt hands holding him up.

Then he screamed in the loudest voice he could have imagined. The pain flashed along with the light and finally darkness raced in to meet him.

* * *

><p>Old Osmond sat there blinking for a moment. As the light died down he could finally see the place where the young man Saito had been standing with the queen, Louise, the foreign princess Tabitha, and his maid Siesta. The girls had raced forward to help him when he'd fallen, now where they stood only a thin wisp of acrid smoke curled up from the singed carpet. Stunned, Osmond turned to Ms. Longueville next to him. "Was that supposed to happen?"<p>

**A/N: Heh heh... Just Primal Knocked It... I loved that gag.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I can't wait to see the next episode. I normally watch it before posting, but I'm going out with the wife tonight so I thought I'd post a bit early so everyone wouldn't have to wait. Enjoy yourselves!**

Chapter 6.

"Is he awake yet?" Siesta asked timidly.

"That's the tenth time you've asked that question Siesta." Louise scolded the girl.

"You want me to take over holding his head?" Henrietta was asking.

"I've got it." Tabitha replied.

Louise looked around the large stone room they found themselves in. This didn't look like any dungeon she'd ever seen before. The stone pillars were chipped and the entire place look like it was carved from one solid piece of rock. Busted windows allowed in what little sunlight filtered through the over cast sky.

"As soon as Saito wakes up we need to find out where we are." Louise said seriously. "I don't think we're in Tristain anymore."

"Why not? All I see outside are trees, and a wooden fence." Siesta said joining her at the window.

"The sky. It was bright and sunny in Tristain this morning. The sky here is overcast and grey. I think someone teleported us during the ceremony." Louise reasoned.

"Do you think it was an attempt to get rid of Saito?" Henrietta asked worriedly. "I didn't think anyone would try to eliminate him this quickly or to go to such extremes."

"I don't know. We aren't in the palace, but if someone were trying to abduct one or both of you I think they would have been more careful about where we ended up. If that is the case we may need to get moving as quickly as possible. Whoever arranged for this might have guards nearby looking for us. We need to get Saito up and moving as quickly as..." Louise started turning from the window to see the limber Tabitha bent double to engage Saito in a fierce lip lock.

Three young women all glowered at the young princess when she finally surfaced. "It works in stories."

"That's where the princess is supposed to wake up." Siesta replied flatly. Saito showed no signs of rousing, so Louise couldn't really vent her anger and frustration on him this time so she let the matter drop.

"Besides it's supposed to be 'true love's first kiss'." Siesta lectured right before taking a turn at the unconscious swordsman.

"Hey, that's my husband." Henrietta complained after Siesta sat back up. Saito continued to remain blissfully unaware. "I should be the one to try."

Louise just sort of sighed and died a little more inside. Here they were in severe danger and these girls just kept going after Saito. Even when he was unconscious the boy made her angry. She had started to get used to Siesta doing it even before Saito cleared the air, but Henrietta and Tabitha were completely different subjects. Not like it was going to be a 'first kiss' for any of them either...

"Well, well, what have we here?" A menacing voice said as a strangely dressed man entered the room with a slender sword propped against his shoulder. "Looks like we found us some kids having a bit of fun haven't we fellas."

General grunts of agreement as a bunch of men filed into the room after their leader. They looked common, ugly, and the most terrifying sight Louise had ever seen. "Kiss harder Henrietta..."

"Who are you?" Louise spat at them as she got between them and her queen. "What do you want?"

The men all stopped and looked at each other in confusion. "Hey boss, you understand what she's saying?"

"What are they saying Louise? I don't recognize their language." Henrietta put in as well.

"What do you mean you don't recognize their language? I can understand them perfectly." Louise replied in confusion.

"They're saying their overjoyed that such strong handsome men as us found them and they're looking forward to some fun with us." Their leader sneered back at his companions.

"But they obviously don't understand me." Louise replied in certainty.

"Hey cutie, come here." The leader ordered.

"My kingdom for a wand." Louise muttered.

"_MY_ kingdom for your wand." Henrietta agreed as the men began to loom closer.

"Looks like these little girls need to be taught a lesson in obedience." The leader said pulling out his weird looking sword and raising it.

Louise closed her eyes but willed herself not to move. She was going to protect Henrietta with her life and with her body if need be. The blow never came. Louise slowly opened her eyes to see Saito's back. Her familiar still had his head bowed as if still unconscious, but his arm was raised and he was holding the wrist of the swordsman aloft. The ruffian looked surprised, but Saito didn't even look up as he planted his fist in the man's stomach and then upwards into his chin.

The young swordsman deftly snatched the blade out of the air as his opponent fell to the floor and drove the blade into the stone next to his ear. As he knelt down over his fallen foe he looked up slightly into the eyes of the terrified bully. "I was waiting for her to try next."

With a jolt, Louise blushed heavily before her embarrassment began to give way to anger as realization dawned on her. She then planted a hard wallop across the back of Saito's skull. "You perverted dog, you mean you were awake for the first three?"

"Well, sort of, I woke up just before Tabitha kissed me." The boy sheepishly admitted.

Saito stood as the leader of the gang of bandits crawled swiftly backwards to the safety of superior numbers. He pushed one of his minions forward who was carrying a heavy looking metal pipe that he was using as a cudgel. The queen's champion quickly slashed at him severing the pipe in half and leaving the much larger man stunned at the sight. Saito casually walked over, reaching up to grab him by the throat, before tripping him so that he could drag him backwards out the door after a retreating band of compatriots who were quickly deciding it was better to be someplace else.

"I've had a really bad day." Saito said conversationally. "You girls wait here, I'm going to go look around outside and work off some frustration."

The four girls nodded dumbly as their protector headed out the door. Louise could hear the occasional scream for mercy as the band of would be attackers found themselves up against a legendary familiar.

"He looked _so_ cool just now." Siesta gushed.

"Did any of you understand those men?" Louise asked.

"Not a word." The queen replied looking out the window to see if she could see the thrashing going on outside the building.

"I don't think those were guards sent to capture us." Siesta said joining her queen.

"These look like ruins." Tabitha noted.

"Maybe they were just bandits, and they were using this place as a hideout." Louise thought aloud. "If the teleportation spell went awry we could be anywhere."

"We should be thankful we didn't find ourselves under an ocean or mountain." Henrietta agreed. "For all we know that might have been the intent."

After a while, Saito came back with his clothing ripped and in tatters; his formal collar completely gone.

"Master, why did you do that?" Siesta scolded. "I worked really hard on that collar."

"Well, I was fighting and..."

"Yeah right, like those guys could have touched you." Louise grumbled. "Anyway, we need to get out of here soon. There's no telling where we are, or if anyone else is after us."

"I already have an idea where we are, and I don't think we need to worry about anyone being after us." Saito said seriously as he sat down heavily. The swordsman propped his commandeered sword against the wall and sighed. "We need to stay here for a little while or at least until after sundown. Then I'm going to go out for a bit. I think I know where I can find us some help. I hope..."

"Well, where are we?" Louise demanded as she took a seat by his side.

"I'll need to confirm my suspicions a little later first. I won't be able to find out until after dark though. You girls stay away from the windows, just because there's no one after us doesn't mean we're necessarily safe." Saito instructed before leaning over into her lap.

* * *

><p>"Right in front of the gathered nobility too." Osmond said turning the royal scepter over in his hands.<p>

"By morning, there's going to be at least ten different men wanting to know who's next in line for the throne." The elderly bishop was saying. He hadn't even had time to change out of his official garments.

"And at least twenty gathering their armies." Duke Valliere noted clinically as he stared at the burn on the carpet where five people had vanished into thin air earlier that day. It was now taking the combined efforts of the Undine Knights and the Royal Musketeers to keep everyone at bay outside the chapel. Nobles were trying to use every last bit of influence they had to try to gain entry and be in on what was being discussed.

"But why did this happen?" Osmond said to himself.

"Isn't the more important question 'What do we do now'?" Duke Valliere said as he looked out the window at the castle courtyard. Servants and nobles alike were scurrying everywhere. Containing this news would have been impossible, and by now messengers were on their way to every neighboring kingdom. Tristain was leaderless. "Without the queen, civil war will be inevitable. It's been brewing for years. I guess I'd better prepare the queen's army."

"A problem I leave to you gentlemen." Osmond said as he continued his examination of the scepter. "In the meantime I am going to carry this back to the academy to study. Everything happened after Saito put his hand over the queen's on the scepter. I'm hoping it will give me some idea as to what happened."

The three men turned as the door to the chapel opened, allowing the roar of the crowd outside to filter in. Nobles were shouting at guards at not being allowed to enter with assurances that slights to their power and reputation would not go unpunished. Agnes and Guiche ignored them for the most part, and things were kept under control. However as the door closed behind the two young people entering the chapel, it was obvious the nobles were getting upset at the exception.

"What are you doing in here boy? The guards were supposed to keep everyone out." The duke growled at the newcomer.

"I _am_ one of the guards sir." Malicorne countered as he escorted the young girl over to Osmond. "I thought an exception could be made for Miss Tiffania."

"What is it Malicorne?" Osmond asked patiently.

The duke rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in exasperation. "The kingdom is about to fall to pieces without its queen, armies are probably massing as we speak, and now children are making decisions about security on their own. Tell me, _Master_ Malicorne, why is it this _elf_ girl should be allowed to enter into these discussions. What reason, or should I say, what_ third_ reason do you have for interrupting us?"

Malicorne seemed to flinch at first, but with the duke's last barb turned to face him directly. The portly young man actually looked flushed with anger as he raised his voice. "_Lady_ Tiffania is only here to see what happened to her friends. Unlike the rest of that lot out there she honestly cares about the queen as a person instead of merely what power she might grab in her absence."

"Now lad, it's alright I'm sure the duke is just under a lot of stress." Bishop Madolene chided gently in an attempt to placate the two men.

"No, it is _not_ alright." Malicorne pressed. "Tiffania is always catching it from people because she's an elf or for whatever other reason and I'm tired of it. We're both worried about our friends and all he wants to do is look down on both of us. Tifa is the queen's cousin, she has every right to be here..."

Osmond glanced up at the bishop who was openly staring at him now. The two looked askance at the duke who was likewise looking back and forth between the two of them as their collective minds all started racing together. In unison the three men turned on a suddenly uncomfortable Malicorne who was after all not accustomed to such outbursts even in defense of a pretty girl. "Did you say 'cousin'?"

**A/N: If memory serves I wrote Saito's scuffle with those ruffians after I'd had a bad bay and SERIOUSLY wanted to kick someone's tail. I kept imagining the target of my wrath getting his butt kicked. I'm so violent sometimes...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Having just watched episode ten of the series, I must admit that I like their storyline even better than my own. I don't know, call me a dragon nut.**

Chapter 7.

Louise was now officially freaked out... Saito was thinking. By late afternoon, the girls had heard all manner of beastly growling coming from outside the ruins they were hiding in. The bandits hadn't returned, though she would have almost welcomed such a familiar danger. Saito had left them earlier and had returned looking somewhat nervous. He wouldn't go into details, but the young man had separated himself from the girls and seemed to be deep in thought.

"What's wrong Saito?" Louise asked gently. She wanted to yell, she wanted to argue, but right now the distressing noises coming from outside made her scared silly.

"I sent a message for help to come." Saito said enigmatically.

"But to who? Guiche? Agnes?" Louise demanded irately. "Where are we and why won't you tell us anything?"

"I don't want to worry you." Saito replied seriously. He looked almost... scared.

The other girls had gathered around, already worried from waiting. As the light faded from the sky outside a strange light passed over the broken windows accompanied by the roar of some beast. Then suddenly the light disappeared and the beast fell silent.

"We've been discovered." Siesta almost cried. All the girls were looking to Saito as their protector as he stood, leaving his sword against the wall.

"Might as well get this over with." He said sadly.

"HI-RA-GA SAI-TO!" Some woman screamed at the top of her lungs as she burst into the room. The girls regarded the woman aghast in her strange clothing as she lunged at Saito, connecting with a vicious kick to his midsection. Saito crumpled to the floor out of breath as the infuriated woman began stomping on his back and head relentlessly.

"Shouldn't we _do_ something?" Henrietta asked in terror as the woman commenced to put Saito in a series of complicated submission holds slamming him into the concrete over and over.

"She's going to kill us!" Siesta whimpered as she cowered behind Tabitha.

The woman was now holding up Saito by the front of his tunic hammering his face with her fist. Louise could stand it no longer and grabbed her arm as it reared back for another assault. The woman's dangerous glare turned on her and it took all Louise's noble upbringing to meet that stare in defiance. Saito was her familiar and she was NOT going to have him beaten by someone other than herself.

Saito groaned and drew the attention of both the woman and Louise. He was bruised but looked remarkably intact for someone just having been beaten senseless. "Hi Mom, long time no see..."

* * *

><p>Saito thanked goodness the delivery van his mother owned didn't have windows in the back. He'd hoped that he'd been wrong when he'd beaten up the teenage thugs that had found the girls that afternoon. The abandoned building they'd stayed in was apparently their clubhouse. He'd left them only to go confirm his suspicions. The really were in Tokyo not far from his old home.<p>

The girls had commented on the strange carriage, but if they looked out now they'd see only one moon and the hysterics really WOULD be starting.

Saito sat in the passenger seat as his mother drove them toward his home and the girls were looking around in fright enough as it was. "When someone turned in your laptop to the police we started a citywide search for you. Where have you been all this time? Your father has been beside himself with worry. He used all his vacation time searching for you and now you show back up all of a sudden dressed up in that get up with a bunch of cosplay girls, and my only son's best explanation is 'It's complicated'?"

"A lot has happened Mom. If I thought for an instant you'd believe me I'd tell you." Saito replied miserably.

"Oh you'll have plenty of time to explain when I get you home. I'm not letting you out of my sight until then. Now where do I need to drop these girls off?" Mrs. Hiraga ranted irately.

"You can't Mom, they have nowhere to go." Saito tried to explain.

"You picked up a bunch of homeless girls?" His mother demanded, incensed.

"No Mom, they're foreigners. I've got to find a way to get them home. They're... my responsibility now." Saito said quietly.

"I thought you were from a different world Saito." Louise said weakly. Saito turned to look at her.

Saito's mother looked at Louise. "What's she saying son? Tell me you haven't gotten involved with international terrorists."

"No Mom!" Saito denied. He then looked sadly at Louise. "You mean you can't understand Louise?"

"Apparently I'm the only one of us that can understand your language, unless you're the one speaking it." Louise said seriously. "It's probably because of the spell I cast on you when you first came to the academy. We can understand you and you can understand us, but no one else appears to be able to."

Saito nodded and then pulled the lever on the bottom of his seat to let it swivel around. "Promise me you won't go nuts." He said extending his hand to Louise.

The young mage looked even more uneasy as Saito guided her to sit in his lap and turned his seat back around to face forward. He then pointed out at the sky just as the clouds parted and the single pale moon hung before her as it began to rise in the night sky. It was almost worth it to share this sight with her as she leaned back into his chest, holding her hands up to her mouth in shock as she trembled. "Welcome to my world." Saito whispered into her ear with a melancholy tenderness.

The other girls had clustered behind his seat to see the sky as well and they seemed to be realizing the situation they were in. "How are we going to get home?" Henrietta asked in mortification.

"An entirely different world and sky." Tabitha muttered, mesmerized.

"My... my ancestors come from here?" Siesta said looking around at what, to them, was an alien landscape.

Saito's mother pulled up to their house in the suburbs and let out the swordsman and his charges. "Get those girls inside before someone sees them. I'll take the van back to the shop and bring some proper clothes. Then we're going to sit down and have a proper discussion about this."

As the van sped away, Saito hurried the girls inside who were busy looking at all the neighborhood houses. "This is a rather large home, are your family merchants?" Henrietta was asking.

Saito quickly got the girls inside. "Sort of, my mother is a seamstress. She owns her own dress shop nearby."

"There are lesser nobles who don't have houses this nice." Louise added with a new appreciation. "She must serve the nobility of this land."

"Actually she barely makes ends meet, at least since my father left." Saito explained. "You guys wait here and I'll go change into some other clothes."

Four feminine hands grabbed him, before he could go three steps. He looked back at four blushing girls who all had the same thing on their minds. "Toilet." They all said in unison.

It took some time for Saito to get the girls sorted out. But before it was all over, they had been educated in how to use a modern toilet. While the girls got things in order, Saito went to his old room and found it just as he'd left it. He then changed into a change of clothes that looked just like the ones he'd left behind in Tristain and returned to the girls.

In the living room, Tabitha was looking over the books on the bookshelf while Louise and Henrietta sat uneasily on the couch and Siesta was looking around the attached kitchen. "Where do you keep the wood Saito? I'll make some tea for you and mistress."

"We don't burn wood here Siesta." Saito said seriously.

"You mean you use those new coal burning stoves? Wow, your mother really is upscale." Siesta replied in awe.

"No, we have an electric range." Saito explained. He went and showed Siesta how to turn on the stove and how to control the heat. It was amazing how little cooking technology had changed over the centuries. Once Siesta had a heat source, and had been shown where the cooking implements were Saito quickly became a liability and was ushered out of the kitchen as she got busy.

"I'm home." Hiraga Ayako exclaimed as she entered bringing some packages in with her. "I brought these girls some clothes to wear. Pajamas, underwear, and some kimonos, sorry but that's all we had available at the store."

"Thanks Mom." Saito said gratefully. "How did you know what sizes to get though?"

"It's a talent." Mrs. Hiraga replied flatly. "I can measure these girls up just from looking."

"Oh." Saito said with a chuckle. "Sorry for causing you problems."

"I'm just happy you're safe. I need to call your father and grandfather and let them know you're finally home." Ayako said with a grimace. "These girls can stay here tonight but then tomorrow we can call their embassies and get them shipped home."

"There aren't any embassies we can call Mom. Sit down, this explanation is going to take a while." The Hiraga son said seriously.

Mrs. Hiraga sat down in the chair in the living room. Saito took a seat next to her on the couch with Henrietta, Louise, and Tabitha beside him in that order. Siesta finally brought the tea from the kitchen for everyone on a platter, and politely served his mother as if she were the family's retainer and then stood behind Saito.

Mrs. Hiraga accepted the tea and then looked at the girl. "She's carrying the cosplay a little far isn't she? Who is this girl?"

"Her name is Siesta mother, she's my maid." Saito said uneasily.

Mrs. Hiraga's eyebrow shot up as she studied Siesta. The girl could at least understand Saito so she curtsied with practiced grace. "Aren't we doing well, what with having servants now? You mean she isn't cosplaying?"

"Like I said mom, it's complicated." Saito said uneasily.

"So who are these other three?" Ayako demanded.

"This is Henrietta, Queen of Tristain; Louise Valliere, third daughter of Duke Valliere of the same country; and finally Princess Tabitha of Gallia." Saito introduced the other girls who all stood and curtsied like proper nobility. Mrs. Hiraga nodded somberly before downing her tea in a single gulp. "Mom, I realize this is upsetting..."

"Let me tell you why." Mrs. Hiraga interrupted. "Your father and I have been worried sick for months wondering if you were dead in an alley somewhere, and then you come home with this absolutely ridiculous story? I taught you not to lie to me, and I guess you need another lesson!"

Saito's mother dragged the poor boy up by his ear walking over to the door to the hallway to beat him severely.

"I'm beginning to see why Saito puts up with the beatings from Louise all the time." Siesta whispered seriously.

Louise looked ready to fume as Henrietta and Tabitha nodded sagely. Apparently, this was the type of physical familial love that he was accustomed to. "He'll fit in well with your eldest sister." Henrietta added.

"I am not that bad." Louise squawked defensively.

Saito was slapped around for a few moments, but Mrs. Hiraga didn't really have much energy left for it. "Now, sit there and consider telling me the truth or else at least think up a better lie while I call your father and grandfather."

Saito returned to his seat while his mother picked up the phone and started dialing as she stepped into the hall. He had no idea what he was going to do now. Saito was going to have to find some way to take care of the girls. None of the girls had a wand and he didn't know how they were going to figure out how to get back even if they did. He was probably going to have to go find a job to support these girls. A sudden vision of coming home in a suit to a house full of four beautiful young women caused his nose to spontaneously bleed. That or his mother hit him harder than he thought. It was a toss up.

"Yeah Dad, he just called me up out of the blue." His mother said walking in with the phone to her ear. "Months without word, and then all of a sudden he shows up with a bunch of girls in tow with some stupid story about them being from some foreign land I've never heard of."

Saito's mother paused as she listened to his grandfather. She then continued. "Yeah, some place called Tristain and one girl from Gallia. He says they're the queen and princess of these places if you can believe it. What?"

Saito looked up at his mother as she began looking off into the distance with a strange look on her face. She then looked at Saito oddly and held out the phone. "Your grandfather wants to speak to you Saito."

Saito gulped and accepted the phone, hoping more than anything to keep his hearing. His grandfather was one of the few men that could keep his mother under control. He'd always viewed the old man as some sort of wizard in his own right with the way he managed to handle his daughter. "Yeah, Gramps?"

"You've really stepped into it hip deep this time haven't you boy?" His grandfather asked quietly. "Your mother's been worried sick. She even called your father and you know what kind of mood that puts her in."

"I know Gramps, I'm sorry. I don't know how else to explain it. I didn't mean to disappear without telling everyone what was going on. I wasn't able to contact anyone where I was." Saito said truthfully.

"I see. Well, I assume you haven't any way to return these girls from wherever they come from?" His grandfather's voice asked from the phone. "What are you going to do now boy?"

"I... I don't know. They're all my responsibility now. I can't turn my back on them. I guess it means I'll have to find work to support us for now and figure out where to go from there." The young man explained desperately.

"Interesting... You've grown much in the last few months, my boy. You're sounding a lot more mature than the little half grown child that left us." His grandfather noted happily. "Well, perhaps I can help you out a little. It's the off season up here in the mountains, why don't you come up and help me at the inn and you can earn some extra money while you're at it. Sound like a good idea?"

"Yeah! That would help a lot!" The young familiar shouted in excitement.

"Excellent, it's settled then. Give the phone to your mother." The old man commanded.

"Yes, what now?" Saito's mother said into the phone. She was silent for a long time.

"Saito, what is that thing?" Henrietta whispered.

"It's called a telephone. It's used for long distance communication. My grandfather lives a few hours away and with it we can talk to him like he's in the same room." The excited young man explained. If he could get these girls to the mountains he could teach them the language in seclusion and earn enough money to support them. His grandfather could help put them up too.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Saito's mother raged at the phone. "Dad, I just can't... Well, of course I do... Okay... Bye..."

Ayako looked haunted as she put the phone away and sat down heavily looking at Saito. "Your grandfather wants you to come to the mountains?"

"Yeah Mom."

Mrs. Hiraga shook her head sadly and looked ready to cry. "I just got you back as if from the dead and now you're going to up and leave me here again."

Saito looked down. "I'm sorry Mom. I was going to be going off to school anyway."

"Schools have phones." Mrs. Hiraga scolded. "I don't have to like it, but apparently your grandfather believes at least part of your story. We'll see where we stand tomorrow."

"Thanks Mom."

"Just don't talk to me right now."

**A/N: A lot of readers have commented on how they couldn't understand why Saito would put up with Louise beating him all the time. In this and the next chapter we'll begin to explore the family life of one Hiraga Saito.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Sorry for the late post. My wife and I have been out of town visiting family in the warm spring weather. Here's to family...**

Chapter 8.

Ayako Hiraga watched her son as he spoke to the girls. They seemed to understand him perfectly for some reason. He also seemed to understand their gibberish. It was all so confusing. People didn't just up and disappear only to reappear and then disappear again. The mother of the household got up and headed for the kitchen to prepare a meal. She wasn't aware that one of the girls had tagged along behind her until she turned to find the maid behind her.

"Uh, Saito. Come collect your servant." Ayako ordered.

"Um, she's offering to help cook if you would like Mom." Her son replied uneasily.

Ayako had never been an exceptional cook so she gladly handed over the apron. Saito came over and the girl quickly set about moving about her kitchen. Saito started explaining what all the things in the fridge were and the girl took to work. Ayako couldn't help but feel her eye twitch as the girl chopped and diced with efficiency she'd never believed possible. Dishes and utensils were cleaned as soon as she was done with them as the little domestic goddess started preparing food for the house.

"You need to marry that one, son. She'll be able to take care of your worthless hide." Ayako complimented the girl.

A strangled sound came from the little pink haired girl named Louise, and Saito instantly looked uncomfortable. Ayako's eyebrow shot up immediately. "Louise understands Japanese?"

"Sort of Mom, she's the only one though." The boy explained.

Louise said something in the strange language these girls spoke and the maid giggled before latching onto Saito lovingly. Saito looked even more uncomfortable as the other three stared at the maid in jealousy. _Just what have you gotten yourself involved in son?_

"So how do you plan on getting these girls to the mountains son?" Mrs. Hiraga asked her only offspring.

"I don't know. I guess I'll have to find work for a little while to save up the money. I need to do it quickly though. It's really important to get Henrietta home as quickly as possible." Saito explained.

"The queen. Oh right, there's probably an evil duke getting ready to take over her magic kingdom without her there right?" The older woman replied sarcastically.

Louise said something to Saito that sounded somewhat angry. Saito turned to his mother sheepishly. "Actually Louise's Dad is a loyal subject of the queen. It's all the _other_ nobles that can't be trusted."

"My apologies." Ayako nodded towards the pink haired girl.

The queen in question then said something to Saito. He nodded looking at her and then staring at his mother. "I don't know, I'll ask."

"What now?"

"Henrietta wants to know if her dress might be worth something. She also has some jewelry on that might be worth something too. She's offering to sell it if it will give us the money we need." Saito reported to his matriarch.

"Well, let's take a look at it then." Ayako said wearily. She was good at her craft, and it would take her mind off the stress of the day. The young woman stood and approached her and Ayako took a long look at her clothing. The more she looked, the more concerned she became. "This looks like a western wedding dress."

Saito looked ready to cringe. "It... it is a wedding dress."

"Why is she wearing a wedding dress, who was she getting married to?" Ayako asked in confusion. Her son's silence spoke volumes, he wasn't looking her in the eyes and as realization dawned on her she was ready to faint. "You weren't!"

Saito covered himself but she didn't have it in her to beat him. He finally looked up at her in trepidation. "Like I said Mom, it's a long story."

Henrietta wasn't looking at her either. Ayako just went back to her appraisal, she really didn't want to think too much and losing herself in work was an old tactic she'd used to get through the hardest times in her life. Henrietta's dress was nothing less than stunning. It needed a good cleaning, but it was very expensive silk, hand stitched with the finest lace and embroidery. Ayako wasn't a professional jeweler, but she'd seen enough knock-offs in her time to recognized the genuine article. Henrietta herself looked western as well. Of all the girls the maid was the only one that looked Japanese. Looking at the quality of the dress made the seamstress start to wonder. This was definitely more expensive jewelry and cloth than some teenage cosplayer could ever hope to get their hands on regardless of how wealthy a family they might come from.

"I think I need to sit down." Ayako announced suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Saito asked in alarm.

"What are you into son?" The mother asked in concern. "That's the most expensive outfit I've ever laid eyes on!"

Saito looked uneasy. He looked at the girls who were looking to him expectantly. "I wasn't lying to you Mom."

"But, it's too unbelievable son!" Ayako pleaded.

"If I told you everything, you'd be even more shocked Mom." Her son said seriously.

Dinner was served, and Ayako enjoyed a better meal than she could have ever managed. She made good food, but this was out of her league. These girls were a mystery. Even the other two girls were wearing formal dresses that were probably only a little less expensive than Henrietta's. She watched her son trying to convince the maid to sit with them at the table, and only after Henrietta said something to her did she reluctantly comply. All the girls deferred to Henrietta.

After dinner the maid cleared the dishes, and had them cleaned in record time. Ayako just shook her head as she studied the girls. This was unreal, but she had a few other suspicions since she was pretty familiar with Hiraga men. "Saito, go get your bath. I'm going to help the girls get changed."

Saito nodded. "I'll leave the bath prepared."

Her son stood to leave, and Ayako watched the maid get up and follow him into the hall. After a moment, she returned with Saito pushing her firmly back into the room. The other girls hadn't even taken notice. "We don't have servants bathe us here Siesta."

"Will Henrietta require someone to help her bathe son?" Ayako asked sipping her tea. She listened as Louise apparently repeated the question to her 'queen'.

Henrietta nodded. Ayako turned to Siesta then. "Translate this for me Louise. Siesta can assist Henrietta with her bath when the time comes. The bath is large enough for two so it shouldn't be an issue. Tabitha and Louise can then go next."

Louise dutifully translated. Everyone seemed pleased except Siesta who seemed crestfallen to see Saito leave the room alone. Ayako now had the girls where she wanted them. "So Louise, you can understand my language but cannot speak it?"

Louise nodded. The Hiraga matron got up and went to the bookcase where she got down a heavy tome before returning to the girls. "These are pictures of our family. Please look."

Ayako sat back and watched. The girls hesitantly opened the book and then immediately became obsessed with the pictures. Giggles, laughter, and smiles graced their faces as they stared and talked. For certain, pictures of Saito garnered the most attention. _I guess the boy is his father's son after all._ Ayako thought sadly.

"So, Henrietta is going to be my son's wife?" The woman asked the assembled girls.

The girls exchanged glances with Louise as she nodded hesitantly.

"You don't seem too happy about it Louise. Is something wrong?" Ayako asked straightly.

Louise shook her head vehemently. Ayako could still see the guilty look on Henrietta's face and the way Louise wouldn't look at her though. The conversation seemed more muted after that. Still as a mother, she simply had to know. "Has Saito taken any of you as his lover?"

It was a quiet question. All the girls were staring at her and then slowly looked at Louise who was dumbstruck. The girl looked unwilling to repeat the question, but finally with prodding from the other girls she reluctantly shared the information.

Tabitha and Henrietta immediately shook their heads and looked at Louise who was likewise negative. The three then stared at Siesta who was looking down and seemed somewhat depressed as she also said no.

The relief on Louise's face was as evident as the look that was probably on her own. _Maybe he's not completely his father's son after all._

The mother of the groom then helped the girls out of their dresses and into comfortable sleeping clothes before Saito returned. Then the evening passed as Ayako got to know these girls her son had brought home through Saito and Louise's help. She watched the pink haired girl occasionally punch or smack her son when he would say something silly, and she nodded to herself.

When it came time for Louise and Tabitha to go to the bath, Ayako interrupted them. "Tabitha do you mind if I go first? I have an early day tomorrow and I need to go ahead and get ready for bed."

Tabitha nodded and bowed respectfully and silently once Saito translated. Ayako left her son to entertain the girls with stories of his youth over the family album and escorted Louise toward the bathroom. The two women readied for their bath silently, and as the middle aged seamstress relaxed in the warm water she couldn't help but stare at the girl across from her. "I'm glad my son found a woman who loves him as much as you do."

Louise looked shocked as she stared at her.

"Has Saito ever mentioned his father to you?" Ayako asked seriously.

Louise shook her head 'no'.

"Saito's father is a really handsome man." Ayako mentioned happily. "You probably saw a few of his pictures in the family album. Do you know why he left?"

Again, Louise shook her head 'no'.

"Some people might think it was because I was beating up on him all the time or treated him coldly or cruelly. That wasn't it though. Hiraga men are just like that. No matter how hard I ever hit him he always just smiled and went on with his life. In all honesty I think they expect it and even enjoy it to a certain degree. It's strange but all sorts of strange people make up the world." The mother continued.

Louise actually smiled as if remembering something and nodded.

"I was the one that lost Kenichi. He was mine to lose too. I lost Saito's father because I wasn't truthful to myself. I convinced myself that he was better off with someone else, and I let him go. Hiraga men have always had a wandering eye. I still think Kenichi would have stayed by my side though if I hadn't let him go. I don't pretend to understand everything that's going on between you and Henrietta, but I can recognize when multiple girls have their eyes on the same prize." Ayako admitted to the girl.

Louise sat there in stunned silence. She had her eyes wide open and looked at a loss for words even if she could have spoken the language.

"Are you wondering why I'm telling you all this?"

Louise nodded dumbly.

"When I first saw Saito I couldn't help but wail on him for worrying me so badly. Of all the girls there, you were the only one that grabbed my arm to stop me. You love him. I see you looking at him the same way I looked at his father when I was trying to convince myself that it was for the best to let him go." The older woman surmised.

Louise looked thoughtful, and finally began to cry. Ayako pulled her close as the small girl clung to her and wept bitterly. Ayako could only guess what mess her son had been making of things. The motherly woman held Louise until her tears subsided and then looked into her eyes seriously.

"Louise, I know you've probably got a lot of reasons for not stopping this thing going on with Henrietta. I realize you're thinking it's probably for the best to just distance yourself from my son and do what's best. I'm telling you not to. You'll kick yourself later if you do. Saito needs a firm hand to make him a man, and I'm hoping you can be woman enough to take good care of him for me." Ayako told the younger woman.

Louise looked awestruck as she stared at her before she nodded tearfully. Ayako finished and got out to dry off and ready for bed. The two headed back to the living room where Saito was showing the girls a movie on the television to an enthralled audience.

Ayako smiled and decided to get things taken care of before bed. "Saito, there's an extra dress stand in the hall closet, put Henrietta's dress on it and I'll collect it in the morning. I'm going to bed, I have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Sure thing Mom. I guess we better figure out sleeping arrangements." Saito said uneasily. "There's plenty of room in my room for all the girls, I'll just sleep down here on the couch."

Ayako whacked Saito over the head. Saito looked up into her disapproving glare. "You've brought these girls heaven only knows how far from home into a place where they've never been and you're going to leave them alone all night? You need to stay in there with them. You said yourself that they're your responsibility, start acting like it. Be a man, son."

"You... you want me to sleep with them in my room?" Saito stammered.

"Yes, I do." Ayako affirmed. "Whatever arrangements after that I leave to you girls."

Louise looked nervous as Ayako left them. The mother of the swordsman didn't know how things were going to work out, but she had faith in the girls that something would turn up.

**A/N: The episode this week sure was a tear jerker for me. I have to say though, I greatly preferred Saito's run in with thugs in my story. I just have a hard time believing three street thugs can beat a trained fighter. Oh well, guess they got lucky...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: I really must start getting more sleep. The plot bunnies I get sometimes keep me up. I'm starting to finish the ending of this story. I've still have about five more chapters until I get to where I was when I started watching season four. Enjoy everyone!**

Chapter 9.

Headmaster Osmond looked over the scepter he'd brought from the palace. It had been left in his care for the time being. He didn't know if the bishop and duke's plan was going to succeed or not, but in the meantime he had an opportunity to look the thing over. Saito's rune had begun to react after placing his hand upon the scepter alongside Henrietta's hand. Now the aged headmaster was pouring over every book he had concerning the history of the royal family, the artifact, and its powers. Osmond looked over the books Ms. Longueville had brought to him and wondered how long the country could last without their queen.

A knock at the door brought Osmond's attention up from his study to find his wayward secretary tentatively poking her head in. "Yes, Ms. Longueville? I'm really busy and do not need to be disturbed."

"I'm sorry headmaster, it's just I've completed a search of Louise's room and found something that might be of interest." The former insurgent reported to her boss. She then quickly shut the door and brought two bottles to the desk.

The headmaster looked down at the blue and pink flower glowing strongly in front of him and whistled. "Ekulerudamaru a magical flower if memory serves correctly."

"Yes, headmaster, but do you know what they're used for?" Ms. Longueville quizzed the old man.

"No idea."

The beautiful young woman actually snorted. "Men... This flower is a common focus for young lovers. It's magic is tied to the two people to which the flowers belong and bloom as long as the two are alive. If these two flowers are glowing, it means that Louise and Saito are alive and well as is the queen most likely."

Osmond sat looking at the flowers dispassionately. He had to admit knowing that the two young people were alive was a definite boon, but without knowing _where_ they were the country was still in trouble. "That is good news. These flowers are native to Albion are they not?"

"Yes, my father used to grow them in his garden when I was small. They're quite popular there. Louise and Saito probably got a couple of them while they were there for the war." Ms. Longueville said picking up the two bottles. "Would you like me to leave them in here so we can watch them?"

"Certainly. Could you then tell the kitchen to have my meal sent here? I'm going to be working late tonight." Headmaster Osmond said looking through his books once again.

"Yes, headmaster. I realize you must be extremely busy." Ms. Longueville said sweetly as she put the two flowers on the mantle and gathered her things to call it a night. "You haven't even tried to look at my underwear."

Osmond chuckled to himself as the girl left him to his work. "Pink." He said to himself after he was alone. He wasn't _that_ busy after all.

Osmond picked up the book on wedding ceremonies and began leafing through it again. There had to be something he was missing...

* * *

><p>Saito looked at his one small bed and gulped. Most young men would think that spending the night with four attractive young girls your own age in your room would be a little slice of heaven. These are all young men who have not actually <em>experienced<em> spending the night with four attractive young women in their room. Harsh reality was beginning to set in for Saito as he looked at his small bed which could hold one person or two if they were _really_ close. One bed, four girls... you do the math.

"I'm sorry my room isn't very large." Saito said uneasily.

"It'll be fine." Henrietta assured him. Technically, it might be seen as their wedding night.

"Mom left out some extra futons, that will help." The young man replied starting to make a place for someone to sleep.

"Where do we go from here?" Tabitha asked the other girls.

"You are the queen Henrietta, you should take the bed." Louise advised sternly.

Henrietta looked at her and began stammering. "Th-thank you Louise, I... I... I realize it wo-would have been our we-wedding night, but the ce-ceremony was interrupted, and wi-with everyone here I..."

"I can see where your mind is at." Louise shot back with a smirk. "I said you were taking the bed. I didn't say Saito would be joining you."

"Oh?"

"We need to lay some ground rules Henrietta, woman to woman. You are our queen, but Saito belongs to me. Understand?" Louise fiercely stated.

Henrietta looked sad. "Of course. I'm sorry I assumed too much Louise."

"And I belong to Saito!" Siesta happily jibed as she latched onto his right arm. Tabitha immediately took up a position on his left.

"Fine." Louise grumbled as the two girls dragged the hapless boy to floor between them.

"I'm really starting to hate being queen." Henrietta likewise grumbled as she got into bed.

"How do you blow out these lamps?" Louise said looking up at the light fixture.

"There's a switch on the wall there by the door." Saito instructed his master.

Louise turned off the light and then Saito felt the weight of a hand against his chest before Louise laid down on top of him. "Do-don't get the wrong idea you dog. I'm just laying here to make sure nothing happens with the maid while I'm asleep."

"Killjoy."

"Shut it."

Saito lay there praying, hoping beyond hope that things couldn't get any worse when they did. "Saito that tickles, stop poking me there." Louise giggled.

"Wait a minute, I've got his right arm." Siesta noted suspiciously.

"And I've got his left." Tabitha supplied.

A long silence hovered in the air for a moment before realization brought a fist down on Saito's head. "You perverted dog!"

"I can't help it Louise!" Saito whined to his girlfriend. "What am I supposed to do when the girl I love is laying on top of me like that?"

"Well, I guess it can't be helped." Louise groused with her usual 'happy grumble' as he liked to call it. "Be grateful you dog."

"Trust me, I am." Saito whispered into her ear as her head returned to his chest.

"What do you think is happening back home?" Siesta asked sleepily.

"War most likely." Henrietta replied quietly. "I imagine that the different factions vying for the throne started preparations the moment we disappeared from the chapel."

"It must suck having those vultures hovering around you all the time." Saito told his queen. "Are you sure marrying me is going to put a stop to it?"

"We have to get back before we even have a chance." Henrietta told him. "Fortunately, we have time since it takes time to mobilize soldiers for war. I just hope we can get back before it's too late."

"How long do you think we have?" Saito asked.

"It's hard to say. Even if we return before the open fighting starts the nobles might simply continue down that road since they've already gotten the armies ready. If they've already gotten into a position to take the country, whether or not I'm actually on the throne is a matter of semantics." The troubled queen explained as she rolled over to look down at the four of them in the dark. Saito looked up to see her face. She was hurting.

Louise sat up and joined her friend on the bed. Henrietta was now crying as Louise hugged her close. "It'll be alright Henrietta."

Louise tried to comfort her friend as best she could and then crawled into the bed. "Siesta. Tabitha."

"Yes, mistress?" Siesta answered warily.

"Henrietta needs a shoulder to cry on so I'm going to sleep up here. Tomorrow night you two can have the bed." Louise ordered the young maid.

"Agreed." Tabitha answered as she and Siesta snuggled close to his sides.

* * *

><p>Morning arrived as it usually did over the country of Japan, light pouring over the cityscape filling in the alleys where night reluctantly let loose it's tenuous grip on the morning. At the home of the Hiraga family, the peaceful morning was getting off to a rather unusual start. For starters, no one was yelling at him.<p>

Saito woke with only one girl in his arms. In this case, the girl happened to be Tabitha. Louise and Henrietta were quietly sleeping in the bed, and Siesta was absent. From the smell he guessed she was already in the kitchen. Saito tried to extricate himself from Tabitha but the slender girl squeezed as he tried to move. "Just a little longer Ivaldi. It's my first time getting to sleep with you and wake up in your arms and I've only had you to myself for a couple hours."

Saito relaxed letting Tabitha curl up closer to him. She was as light as Louise, and of all the girls he knew how to handle her the least. She was always so quiet, which made it hard to understand her. He figured she must genuinely love him, after all she'd been clinging to him for dear life since returning from Gallia with him. Saito pulled her close and could see she was happy to be with him, but still he wondered. "Tabitha, why do you love me, when you know I love Louise?"

"You're the first person to care about me enough to risk everything to save me. All my life I've only ever read about heroes willing to risk their lives for the people they cared about and even then it was usually for the women they loved. If you loved me enough to fight for me, I'm going to return it." Tabitha explained.

"Personally, I think the dog is just too stupid to realize when the odds are against him." Louise growled as she rolled over to look at them. Saito froze. He was cradling Tabitha against his chest after all.

"Well, he has a nice butt too." Tabitha added.

"You have to admit Louise, he _does_ have a nice bottom." Henrietta remarked from somewhere behind Louise.

Louise turned red and got ready to make his morning more normal when Tabitha rolled on top of him. "That reminds me. Good morning Ivaldi."

Saito had been kissed by Tabitha before, but this one was new. She was on top of him, he could feel her entire body through her pajamas, and oh yes... she was using tongue. Saito could see Louise above him getting ready to come down and murder him. Siesta was one thing, Tabitha was a completely different matter.

Henrietta grabbed Louise in a hug wrestling around with her childhood friend, and as the queen giggled and Louise fumed, Tabitha managed to get up from on top of him unscathed.

"My turn!" Henrietta called playfully, rolling off the bed onto him and kissing him forcefully as well.

"Henrietta!" Louise whined as her queen and friend joined Tabitha, getting ready to head to the bathroom to get ready for the morning. "When do I..."

"Right now." Saito growled hungrily as he pulled his girlfriend off the bed onto him and began kissing her passionately. He then started down her jaw to her neck finding her most ticklish places.

It was several minutes before Saito released Louise to the annoyed stares of the other two girls. "Why don't you kiss him first tomorrow Louise?" Henrietta recommended flatly.

"Why, so you can try to go longer?" Louise shot back happily, slightly out of breath with a blush to boot.

"Bingo." Tabitha affirmed as the girls headed off to get ready for breakfast.

He hated to admit it, but being home with all these girls really did have him in a very good mood. Saito quickly readied himself and headed for the breakfast table where he found an absolutely dazzling breakfast waiting for him. Siesta was just putting the last of the dishes out for them as he entered.

"Good morning Siesta." Saito intoned as he patted her on the bottom since none of the girls were around. As the buxom girl jumped and turned to face him he kissed her warmly too. "Thanks for making breakfast."

Siesta was bright red and speechless as he chuckled and sat down at the table. He was just about to dig in when his mother came in the door. "It's about time you got up. Siesta's been up for hours. She saw _me_ off this morning. What happened, your girlfriends keep you up?"

"Good morning mother, breakfast is ready." Siesta said happily.

"You realize she can't understand you right Siesta?" Saito asked from where he was sitting.

"I can still welcome her home." Siesta replied as Saito translated the welcome.

"Thank you Siesta." Mrs. Hiraga offered amicably.

"Uh, Saito?" Louise called from the hallway. "Can you help me with something?"

"What is it?" Saito called back.

"We're having problems trying to figure out how to get dressed in these clothes." Louise reported uneasily.

Saito snorted his morning tea through his nose and was coughing uncontrollably while his mother pounded on his back. "I'll... I'll... I'll be right there!"

"I think I better go check on the girls instead." Mrs. Hiraga said suspiciously as she gauged her son. "Your reaction looked a little too happy. You come too Siesta, I think I can guess what they're calling about."

Saito was left to his meal in peace and quiet. It had been a long time since he'd been home and while Siesta's breakfast was marvelous he still had a craving for good home cooked Japanese food. After a few minutes, he finished off his tea and was quite happy to be alive as he got up to head for the couch. That was when the hallway door opened.

It was a good thing his tea was empty as the cup tumbled from his hands to the floor. Saito sank to his knees in awe, tears coming to his eyes at the vision of beauty in front of him. His mother had brought kimonos for the girls to wear. As the girls stepped into the room, he couldn't decide where to look first. As his eyes wandered across each of their lovely faces he finally let his eyes fall on Louise.

"I take it I still have the eye?" Mrs. Hiraga asked her love-struck son.

Louise was radiant in a pink kimono that matched her hair, with white birds in flight embroidered across it and a crimson obi. Next to her, Henrietta was wearing a lavender kimono with one large pink blossom at the shoulder and an obi of the same color. Not to be outdone, Tabitha was equally elegant in a deep blue kimono with much lighter blue bamboo stalks covering her left side with a black obi. Siesta however stole the show. Her Japanese heritage made her look the most natural in the formal attire. Her kimono was jet black covered in purple leaves with a silver obi. Add the fact that all the girls were blushing, staring, and smiling at him cutely because they were in such alien clothing; and Saito didn't stand a chance. He was a Japanese male and such noble grace and beauty as this echoed through his soul clear down to his ancestors. It was then that Saito realized that he could never leave them. If he had to carry a sword the rest of his life and spill the blood of a million men, monsters, and mages, he'd protect these girls with his life until his final breath.

What he hadn't realized was that his jaw had been hanging open. He was only made aware of this when his mother politely closed it for him. Then she slapped him... hard. "Snap out of it son, and don't you dare drool on the carpet."

**A/N: What can I say? I like melancholy drama every now and then. I just love the word poignant...**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: My apologies to those of you who thought I'd flipped out last week. My closing author's note said something about 'melancholy drama' when the chapter had little to do with it. I was writing chapter 14 at the time and mixed up the author's notes. Sorry for the confusion.**

Chapter 10.

"You mean you bought them already?" Saito exclaimed in surprise as his mother handed him five tickets.

"Yes, and here's some money for lunch on the train." Mrs. Hiraga huffed. She then glared at him as he stared at her. "What? It's important for you to get Henrietta home isn't it? Just take it. I'll make more than this off those beautiful dresses the girls gave me. Here, I've put Henrietta's jewelry in these cases. Have her put them in her purse for safe keeping. She doesn't need to be seen walking around with that stuff on. I've also packed these bags for the girls too."

"Thanks Mom." Saito said with a tear in his eye.

"Oh just stop it." Mrs. Hiraga scolded with her own 'happy grumble'. She then embraced her only son. "I guess you were bound to spread your wings and fly away sooner or later."

"Are you going back to work now?" Saito asked innocently.

"No. I left Junko in charge of the shop for the day. I'm taking the day off." His mother explained.

"Oh, are you seeing us to the station?"

"No." Mrs. Hiraga said picking up the loose brick from the front steps and dropping it into her purse. She swung it around a little to test the weight. She was glancing at Louise when she spoke. "I think I'm going to go look for your father. It's about time he quit screwing around and came home. And this time, I'm going to make sure he stays."

Saito gulped and said a quick prayer for his father wherever he was. His mother made 'making sure he stays' sound like it involved casts, concussions, and contusions.

"Happy hunting." Saito said uneasily.

As his mother wandered off down the street, Louise sighed and lovingly took his arm. "I really love your mother. I think I learned a lot from her."

Saito stared at the girl for a moment, fearfully, and quickly called for a cab. He really didn't want to think about that too much. The sooner he got his courtly kimono-clad cuties up into the mountains, the better.

The trip to the station went without incident, with the girls accustomed to magic and carriages, the idea of a magic horseless carriage pretty much settled everything when it came to the cab. The train was an entirely different matter. The girls had never moved so fast in their lives, and as the scenery whipped past them they were a little uneasy moving so quickly.

"Saito, I don't see any other girls dressed like us." Siesta said looking around at the other passengers. "Are these kimonos really that common?"

"Are any of the women looking at you strangely?" Saito asked.

"No."

"Then I wouldn't worry about it. Kimonos are formal wear in my culture. People probably just think you're a bunch of wealthy girls on vacation." Saito reassured her.

"The men _are_ staring though." Henrietta said shyly.

"Yeah, I know. That has nothing to do with you looking _strange_ though." Saito explained as he glared at another guy walking up to hit on the lovely girls with him with a look that promised death and dismemberment if he didn't keep walking.

"So, exactly how far away does your grandfather live?" Louise asked.

"Just a few hundred miles." Saito said nonchalantly. "It's only a few hours by train."

He noticed Henrietta's eyebrow was twitching uncontrollably. "A few _hundred_ miles... a few _hours_ by train..." She said with a queasy tremor to her voice. She then went to staring out the window again fearfully. "That's bigger than the whole breadth of Tristain."

"Well Japan _is_ a pretty big country." Saito explained. He then figured that he might as well get around to breeching the subject now. "I'm probably going to have to teach you all about it."

The girls fell quiet as the ramifications settled in on what he was saying. "We're going to have to learn your language for real too I guess." Siesta was saying.

"Probably." Saito said sadly. "I have no idea how we're going to get home."

A sniffle brought Saito's attention to Henrietta. He thought he had said something hurtful, but she was smiling. "You called Tristain 'home'."

Saito tried to hide his blush as he scanned the girls faces. "Yeah, I guess I do sort of think of it that way. Everything I've ever considered important is there... or rather _was_."

All the girls started blushing. Louise was the first to change the subject. "So, your grandfather, is he a merchant as well?"

"Yeah, he's owned the Hiraga Hot Spring Hotel since before I was born." Saito told his companions.

"What about your grandmother?" Siesta asked.

"She passed away when I was too young to remember her. I'm told she was a great woman. She was the one that ran the hotel, and my grandfather was a high school teacher. He retired when she passed away to keep the hotel running. My Mom was raised there." Saito reminisced. "We used to go see Gramps a lot when I was younger."

"It's so exciting getting to see your world Saito." Siesta gushed.

"Actually, in a way it's your world too Siesta. Your great grandfather came from here too. If memory serves your family name is Sasaki. That would make you Sasaki Siesta." Saito told her.

"Only nobles have surnames in our world." Tabitha murmured quietly.

"Everyone has them in ours." Saito instructed.

"I... I prefer our worlds custom." Siesta said looking embarrassed and demure.

"You mean in Tristain?" Henrietta asked.

Siesta nodded. "Yes your majesty. There, since I'm a servant that serves Saito's household... I'd... carry his name."

"Hiraga... Siesta?" Saito said experimentally. He liked the sound.

Apparently Siesta did to. "Yes, I'd really like for people to call me Hiraga Siesta."

"You know Saito..." Louise said glaring at Siesta. "Since we're in your world..."

"Our names might attract attention..." Henrietta continued as she blushed madly.

"Hiraga... Tabitha." Tabitha said faintly.

Visions he'd had earlier of coming home to a house full of women (who were now all wearing kimonos), suddenly leaped back into his brain and Saito had to pinch his nose before it started bleeding.

"I guess that would be fine. We'll have to tell Gramps the truth though." Saito told his rather unorthodox 'family'.

"Hiraga Louise _is_ a lot shorter and easier to say." Louise whispered as she clung possessively to his arm. She looked like she was spacing out.

The girls napped off and on and Siesta was surprised to find she didn't have to cook as Saito bought them all a bento to eat from the train trolley and then had to teach them how to use chopsticks. At least he _tried_ to teach them how to use chopsticks. In reality the girls took turns making him feed them using _his_ chopsticks.

After the train, the bus took them deeper into the mountains. After they ended at the bus stop, it was a short walk along the forest road to his grandfather's inn. The place was much as he remembered it. The sign out front announced 'Welcome Hiraga Family'. Saito blushed and decided not to translate it to the girls. As Saito sat down all the bags (which he'd ended up carrying), his grandfather came clicking away out of the inn with his cane.

"Saito, my child, it has been forever since you've been to see me." Gramps greeted warmly. He hugged his only grandson and patted him on the head.

"Not since my last summer in middle school." Saito agreed.

"Well, I think I can forgive you since you bring such lovely maidens to my doorstep." His grandfather jibed happily. "So who are these lovely angels that have chosen to grace our inn."

"Well Gramps, it's really a little hard to explain..."

"Just introduce us son. I'm not your mother." His grandfather chided.

"Very well, this is Queen Henrietta of Tristain. Princess Tabitha of Gallia, and Louise Valliere third daughter of Duke Valliere of Tristain, and Siesta, my maid." Saito explained. Each of the girls bowed respectfully to his grandfather who bowed in turn to each of them. They were more accustomed to curtsies, but then kimonos weren't built for curtsies.

"Well then, let's all get inside. I'll have the porter take the girls' bags to the rooms I've had prepared. We'll be having a feast tonight!" Gramps crowed happily.

"Um, what's happening Saito?" Siesta asked as the porters took the bags and opened the doors for her.

"They're taking your bags to your room for you while we go to dinner." Saito replied.

"Would you like for me to cook you something?" His maid asked hopefully.

"No Siesta, tonight _you_ are to be served." Saito told her warmly.

The feast was entirely of traditional Japanese foods. The girls were supplied with forks and spoons for them to eat with since they still didn't have the hang of it with chopsticks. The girls were enjoying the meal, but Saito noticed Siesta wasn't too happy.

"What's wrong Siesta?" Saito asked.

"I can't serve you!" The girl complained seriously. She was nearly in tears.

"I told you it's alright Siesta. Tonight you're the guest here so _you'll_ be the one being served." Saito reminded her.

"It's not that master, _I_ want to be the one to serve you. My skills as a maid are one of my most womanly qualities. It upsets me not serving you, and having other people serve you. It upsets me nearly as badly as me kissing you used to upset Mistress Louise." Siesta bemoaned.

A sudden thought occurred to Saito and inspiration was always welcome. "You know Siesta, there is something you can do for me..." The young noble said with a grin.

"Just tell me how to get out of this kimono, and I'm yours." Siesta said with a deep blush.

"I haven't had food from my native country while I've been in Tristain. Whether we find our way back there or not, I'd love it if you learned to cook the food I like from the inn here." Saito offered.

Siesta's eyes lit up like flames as she smiled broadly. "Yes master, I shall start learning in the kitchen immediately. And if we do get back I'll make you all your favorites, just for you."

Saito smiled and Siesta seemed pleased. Louise even looked satisfied.

"I guess you're finally learning how to handle being a noble." She said with satisfaction. "We'll have a maid with recipes found nowhere else in Tristain."

"Miso soup..." Saito whispered, salivating.

"I'm glad you're enjoying the meal son." Gramps said as he went to pour himself some sweet sake only to have Siesta happily commandeer his bottle and start pouring it for him. "So have you decided what you're going to do?"

"I really don't know Gramps. There's no way to get the girls back home. I guess I'll need to work to support them. Most of these girls have never had to live as commoners." Saito thought out seriously.

"We'll help any way we can Saito." Henrietta promised.

"Thanks, but I'll figure out something. I'm just sorry I don't know of any way to get you all home." The young familiar apologized.

"I see, well I wouldn't think that you would." Gramps said before taking another sip of his sake. "That's not a Gandalfr's job after all."

Saito nodded, not really realizing what he'd just heard until he looked up to see the other girls staring at him with incredulous stares as they all recognized the word. They all looked to the elderly head of the family as he finished his drink and set his cup aside. "So which of you girls is the void mage?"

* * *

><p>"Thank you your highness, you have been most helpful." Osmond said as he closed his heavy book and put it away. "You will probably be needing this for the time being. It should help you look the part of royalty."<p>

"Headmaster, I don't _want_ to look the part of royalty!" Tiffania whined loudly.

"Well like it or not with the queen and Louise gone you're the next in line for the throne." Duke Valliere said looking over his charts in the royal council chambers. There was going to be war soon and he had already started mapping strategies.

"I'm messing everything up, half the nobility rebelled when the bishop announced an elf was taking the throne in Henrietta's absence." The inadvertent princess moaned.

"It's better than if I'd taken over." Duke Valliere admitted grudgingly. "If it had been me, they'd _all_ have rebelled. At this rate, we'll at least be able to hold them off for a few weeks. We might even make it until winter, which will delay the campaigns until spring, but I wouldn't bank on it."

"You mean we're not going to win?" Guiche asked where he looked at the maps across the table from the older man with Agnes and Malicorne beside him.

"No. Not without a miracle. We need the queen back and we need her back quickly. There's a lot of nobles ducking their heads to see who wins this fight before they declare their allegiance one way or the other, and if the queen were back they'd side with her rather than risk charges of treason." Duke Valliere explained. "If there's anyway you can get her back. You'd better do it."

Old Osmond nodded and looked around the room. He had an idea of what had happened now, but if he let on that there was nothing he could do to retrieve the queen he might jeopardize the delicate position Tiffania was in right now.

He didn't really want to scare the young girl doing her best to help right now, but the situation looked bleak. In the end, all he could do was have faith in Saito and Louise and hope for the best. Praying for forgiveness, he pushed forward. "It is possible to reach them, but it will take time to prepare the necessary rituals." Osmond lied. "We found these flowers in Louise's room. We know that Saito and Louise are alive and well, and if they are the queen most likely is too. If I can discern their location, I can try to summon them back."

Despite his focus on the queen, Duke Valliere looked relieved at the news. He loved his daughters in his own way, but much like most busy professional men he sometimes forgot to show his feelings for his children openly. Still, he did care and the news was obviously a load off his mind. "You say that common rabble she insists on running around with is still with her?"

He looked displeased, but Osmond could hear the relief in his voice. "Yes, her familiar is still with her." Osmond reported, though he left out that he didn't have his sword.

"Well let's hope she can keep him out of trouble." The Duke inserted brusquely. _Translation: Good, I'll be counting on him to take care of my little girl._ Osmond thought to himself.

"Well, I have preparations to begin on my end and you gentlemen have a war to fight. I'll make certain to let you know the moment I find anything else out." Osmond told the assembled advisors as he retrieved his mouse.

The old man hobbled out the door to where Ms. Longueville waited. They set out for the carriage that would take them home, and Osmond raised his best friend to his ear. "Princess Tiffania likes green you say?"

Matilda rolled her eyes and shook her head sadly. "You had your familiar peek at the leader of Tristain's underwear? What were you doing, checking all the girls there?"

"Of course not." Osmond said stiffly. Then he snorted in annoyance. "There's no way I could have checked Agnes. I mean really... trousers. What _is_ this world coming to?"

**A/N: Well the series is over and Saito married Louise. I must say, I was rather pleased with the ending where Louise and Saito go to see his family. I'm quickly reaching the end of where I had written to before the start of the series. I've got an ending in mind and it looks like this story will wind up around 16 chapters or so. Enjoy it in the coming weeks!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: There are certain fundamentals when it comes to anime. A true anime will always have a beach episode, a hot spring episode, and some sort of festival episode. It never ceases to amaze me to what extents some anime will go in order to accomplish these fundatmentals (the hot spring planet from Outlaw Star immediately leaps to mind). Anyway, when I wrote this I tried visiting the anime fundamentals that were missing from this series. I'm glad season four captured them too. They even had that one extra beach episode.**

Chapter 11.

Saito looked at his grandfather trying to get the words to come out, but nothing was happening. His grandfather looked at his dumbstruck expression and chuckled mildly.

"Are you my grandson's master, Your Majesty?" The aged man asked Henrietta. It sounded no different to Saito, but Henrietta jumped as if she had understood every word. "Or you princess?"

"I... I am." Louise ventured.

"I see. Well, welcome to Japan all of you." The elder Hiraga greeted. "Though I wonder why this girl here seems to be Japanese..."

"Her... her great grandfather is from Japan." Saito managed. His grandfather for the first time seemed shocked.

"Really? Now that IS something." His grandfather said looking the girl over. "Was your great grandfather also a Gandalfr? What was his name?"

"No." Siesta answered slowly. "He was stranded on our world. His name was Sasaki..."

Gramps turned pale at this, looking visibly shaken. "Fate can be a strange master." He whispered to himself.

"How... How do you know about these things Gramps?" Saito asked.

His grandfather recovered his composure and smiled weakly. "I've been to your world son."

Saito's jaw was now hanging wide open. All the girls were likewise in shock. "Can you get us home?" Henrietta managed first.

"Sadly, no I can't." Gramps said resuming his drinking. "I might be able to show you were to start though."

"When did you come to our world?" Tabitha asked seriously.

"I've actually been to your world twice." Gramps said seriously. "Both times being long, long ago. Tell me son, did you ever wonder why out of all the people in Japan, _you_ were the one who got summoned to be this girl's familiar?"

"I never thought about it much." Saito admitted.

"Well, there was a reason behind it." Grandpa Hiraga explained. "Our family have had different members serve as Gandalfr for centuries. It's not something we advertise though."

"But... how? Why us?" Saito begged.

"I'm afraid you would have had to have asked your grandmother those questions. She was the mage, not me." The elderly innkeeper said as he relaxed.

"Your... your grandmother was a noble?" Louise asked her dumbfounded familiar.

"Gallian." Gramps affirmed with a nod. "The key word there being 'was'. We fled your world nearly seventy years ago."

"That means that you... You're a Gandalfr too!" Saito accused his elder.

"At one time, yes. My rune faded after your grandmother passed away." His grandfather said sadly.

"You said you had been there twice..." Henrietta mentioned.

"Maybe I should just tell you from the beginning. When I was a boy, younger than even Saito actually, I was summoned to your world. I had no idea where I was or how to get home. Saito's grandmother was the one who summoned me. She was a member of the nobility in Gallia, and she summoned me the night her estate was attacked. She was desperate, alone, and scared. You see, back in those days Gallia, Tristain, and all the surrounding kingdoms were embroiled in rampant war. She never knew why her family was attacked, but I suspect it was because someone knew what ran through her bloodline. The night she summoned me, we fled from Gallia. At the time she didn't even know what she was. It wasn't until later that we found out she was a void mage."

"I am from Gallia, and a member of the nobility. It's possible that we might share a common ancestry Saito." Tabitha remarked.

"It's possible. Void magic runs in families. A long time ago, I think some of the powerful nobility tried to intermingle with void users. We'd heard that there was a family in Tristain that might have had the possibility of turning out a void mage, but they never had before. That must have been your family. There's a lot more to the history than that, but that's where you'd have to look into your grandmother's research." Grandfather explained.

"But why is your family, the one to provide the Gandalfr?" Louise asked.

"Well as I said, when we fled Gallia, Amelia and I knew nothing of all this. Amelia was nowhere near done with her magical studies and had only tried summoning me out of desperation, and I wasn't much help against an army. You see my power as a Gandalfr was called 'The Heart of God'. I was able to survive any injury or wound. And let me tell you, I was mortally wounded enough to have killed me countless times while helping her to escape. I became very leery of the word 'diversion'. Anyway we were eventually captured by elves while fleeing through their lands and they were more than willing to help remove a void user from the world. They carried us to a place called Shytarn, and helped Amelia open a gate that lead her to my world. Saito, when I was younger than you, I came here with your grandmother because _my_ grandfather was the priest at the local temple and I didn't know where else to go. It was there that I found that there had been disappearances like mine from this village for centuries, and there were records of why. Your grandmother told me that our family, and the families that still live here in this village were descended from someone from the other world who was sent to this one through the gate to act as a guardian. That was when she decided to take up that charge and guard this place. It has some sort of tie to the other world like Shytarn does among the elves."

"So you think she might have left some record of how to open the gateway to our world and send us home?" Henrietta asked seriously.

"It is possible. Like I said, I don't understand magic very much at all. Saito's grandmother would lose me quickly whenever she would start going on about her research." Gramps mentioned.

"So when did you go back?" Saito asked.

"It was years later, and it was accidental. I was flying a mission for the military when my wing man and I were pulled into an eclipse. Your grandmother explained the details to me but I've never really understood what she meant, some really long words were involved though. Needless to say, having been there before, once I realized what was happening I signaled Sasaki-san to follow me back through and escape. I made it, but he didn't. All these years, I've wondered what became of him. But somehow, knowing he lived to have a family makes me feel better." Gramps said with a smile as he patted Siesta's hand.

"So you were the other pilot." Saito whispered.

"Yes, it was during the war of course. After the war I finished school and became a teacher and your grandmother took up the family's charge of protecting the area. It was amazing how much the small handful of gold coins she'd brought with her from Gallia managed to buy. We purchased the inn here and we lived happily together for years. When your mother left I didn't think you would ever be summoned though. All the others that were summoned over the centuries came from the village here." Grandfather explained. "As I said, all the families here have lived here since the time of the first guardian like the Hiraga family, and also the Sasaki family. Siesta child, you have distant relatives here. Your great grandfather wasn't an only child. He and I served together with the other boys from this village."

Everyone stared at Siesta as the news sank in to everyone. Siesta smiled as she looked at Saito. "I never dreamed I'd have such a strange heritage."

"Well, it matters little right now. That's all ancient history. There's apparently been more connections between our world and your own in the past. Amelia's notes will be able to tell you more." Grandfather said standing. "I've had a bit much to drink, so I think I'm going to go pass out for the night. You children enjoy yourselves in the springs tonight, and tomorrow I'll take you up to the temple."

Saito nodded dumbly as his grandfather unsteadily rose to wander off to his bed. Then a thin trickle of blood began to ooze from his nose as his eyes began to get bigger and bigger. The other girls were looking at him in concern as the blood began to flow more heavily and the young man slumped backwards and nearly fainted.

"Saito, what's wrong?" Louise cried, shaking his nearly unconscious form.

"Hot... Springs..." Saito gurgled before darkness claimed him.

* * *

><p>"So... the bath... is outside?" Henrietta asked dubiously as she pulled the inn's robe a little tighter around her body.<p>

"Don't worry, the inn is secluded so that no one can see. There's also a wall there so that no one can look in and spy on the women bathing." Saito reassured the girl as well as he could with a tissue stuffed up each nostril.

"Will you be bathing with us master?" Siesta asked hopefully.

"No, the baths are separated, except on mixed bathing day." Saito continued. "The pink flag there is the women's entrance, and the blue one here is the men's entrance. There's a wall inside that separates the two."

"You better not peek over the wall you dog." Louise warned.

"Don't worry mistress, I'll make sure he behaves." Siesta promised taking Saito's arm and heading toward the blue entrance.

Three sets of arms pulled the errant maid back toward the pink side. "We're not in Tristain anymore." Louise scolded.

"I'm outlawing that tradition when we get home." Henrietta added.

Saito headed into the men's changing area and got some fresh tissues. He'd bathed with Siesta before and it had taken all his reserve not to have sex with her in that little tub in her room. If she'd followed him in now, or any of the girls for that matter, he didn't think he'd be able to control himself. He blamed it on the kimonos. He hated to admit it, but he was definitely beginning to like the idea of coming home to a house full of women (who were now only wearing towels).

It took Saito several minutes to stop the bleeding, and get undressed for his bath. Finally, wearing nothing but a towel, the young swordsman stepped out into the cool night air and looked up at the stars. A girlish squeal brought Saito's attention back to his right where four young girls were standing in nothing but towels, shivering.

Saito's eyes went wide as he struggled for something to say. His lips were moving but he couldn't seem to get the words to come out right. There where the wall should have been was an empty space with a sign that said 'Mixed Bathing Day Today'.

"Saito you perverted dog! You knew all along didn't you!" Louise accused the young man.

"Can I wash you now master?" Siesta cried happily.

"Did you see anything?" Henrietta asked with a deep trembling blush while standing in such a way as to remedy the situation if he hadn't.

Tabitha merely shrugged. "It's not like he hasn't seen it before." She said as she tossed her towel aside and slipped into the warm water.

It was Louise's turn to be unable to speak as she stared at Tabitha aghast, and then looked over angrily at Saito whose eyes had followed the lithe girl all the way into the water.

As Saito caught a tub for bathing supplies upside the head from his irate master he thought he could faintly hear an old man chuckling somewhere in the inn. This was most likely just his imagination though since immediately after that he slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

**A/N: Sorry. Got a nosebleed dreaming of hot spring episodes...**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Many have noted the discrepancies between my story and the canon on Void Mages and Gandalfr presented in the manga. To which I reply... there's a manga? Sorry guys, I've never read the light novels or manga or whatever they may have available. All I knew when I wrote this was the back story presented in the anime, and only three seasons at that. I hope it doesn't ruin the story for you.**

Chapter 12.

"You didn't have to hit him that hard mistress." Siesta was complaining. Saito could feel a gentle hand holding a warm cloth to his forehead. He could also feel his head resting against two large soft mounds. From the soft warm feeling against his back he could tell that she was also cradling his body against her own possessively while they both lay in the hot springs soaking.

Saito slowly opened his eyes to darkness. He was blindfolded. "I didn't mean to walk in on you girls. My grandfather was probably playing a prank on me."

"W-w-w-well you should have checked before you came in." Louise stuttered from nearby.

"It's not like I saw anything." Saito countered. "You knocked me flat before that."

"What about Tabitha?" Louise retorted. A poke at his ribs let him know the quiet girl was in reach.

The trickle of blood from his nose was probably going to betray him, so he decided not to hide it. "Well, it's not like I saw anything _else_."

"You've been out for a little while, so behave yourself and count yourself lucky. You got to bathe with all four of us." Louise admonished him. "At least you're harmless when you're unconscious. We're getting out and dressed for bed. Don't you dare move until I come back for you."

"Okay." The blind familiar agreed, waiting for the soft flesh to leave his back. When it didn't he figured that Siesta was going to stay. At least she didn't require him to wear a blindfold. After he heard the door close he reached up and deftly tossed the thing aside before swiftly pulling the girl around into his lap. "I told you Siesta, you don't have to bathe me here."

The girl in his lap though wasn't Siesta. What he found himself holding in his lap instead was a quivering and terrified Henrietta. Saito briefly let his eyes drop to her naked form before snapping them shut. "I-I-I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Henrietta said softly. "You... you can look."

Saito slowly opened his eyes to his queen as she sat balled up in his lap. The girl was beet red from head to toe and it had nothing to do with the heat of the water. "I figured Siesta somehow managed to win the right to bathe me or something."

"She wanted to, but I talked the others into letting me have this time alone with you." Henrietta explained.

"I'm shocked Louise went for it. After last night she sounded like she'd had about all she was going to stand of this Jus Primae Noctis stuff and was reasserting her claim on me." Saito said seriously.

"Well, she didn't like it, but we made a deal." Henrietta explained carefully. "We all agreed to let you and Louise... be together, and after that we'd decide what to do."

"You mean 'we' as in..."

"All of us Saito, not just us girls. I know you keep getting angry at us because we don't seem to notice you're feelings." Henrietta said leaning against his chest still balled up. "Though one wrong move from you and I might be breaking my promise."

Saito blushed deeply and set Henrietta down on the floor of the bath between his legs so that intimate parts of their anatomy were no longer pressing so closely. "Sorry."

"Do you hold Siesta like that in the bath?" Henrietta asked too casually.

"No. I've only bathed with her twice. We weren't that close the first time either." Saito explained. "The second time was after I officially told her that I belonged to Louise."

"I see." The small queen said shivering.

Saito pulled the girl's back to his chest and wrapped his arms around her midsection. "Better?"

"Not really, I wasn't shivering from the cold." Henrietta replied. "But don't move, this feels nearly as wonderful as sitting in your lap."

Saito chuckled and squeezed his 'wife' a little closer. "So, why did you want to bathe with me?"

"I... I needed to talk to you. Alone." Henrietta whispered. "I... I haven't been honest with you and I felt like I needed to tell you now before I lose my nerve."

"You can tell me anything Henrietta, you know that." Saito said worriedly.

"I was going to tell you after the wedding and then everything started happening. Saito I'm sorry about all this." The emotional ruler wept.

Saito shushed the girl and rocked her back and forth. "What's wrong?"

"Saito, do you know why my marriage was called off when Ward got his hands on the letter I sent to Wales?" Henrietta asked suddenly.

"I assumed that whoever it was didn't want to marry you when you were in love with someone else." Saito answered uncertainly.

Henrietta shook her head sadly. "Political marriages have little to do with love. It's all about honor. Saito... I... I'm not pure."

"What?"

"I... When Wales and I were younger, we... were together. I had mentioned it in the letter and when it was found out, I was rejected." Henrietta sobbed.

"Why are you telling me this now? Why not before the wedding?" Saito asked softly.

"I... was going to tell you. I didn't think you would care since you don't really love me and you only love Louise. But ever since you agreed to marry me, and we've been trapped here, I've come to know what it feels like to be protected by you. You've stepped up and guided us with no thought for yourself. That's when I realized... I really am falling in love with you Saito. I'm in love with you just as much as the rest of the girls and I'm sorry I can't give you what Louise can." The young woman cried quietly.

Saito hugged her closer and laid his head against her back. "I'm glad."

"You're glad?" Henrietta asked in bewilderment.

"I'm glad you shared yourself with the person you loved before he died. I've already decided that Louise will be the first girl I ever love for the same reason." Saito said as he stood up, pulling his wife along with him. The two of them stood there together naked in the moonlight as he turned the queen to face him. "Henrietta, to me you are still pure, because it's what's in your heart that has remained pure despite all the turmoil the country has been through. You are a beautiful young woman, inside and out, and don't think for a moment just because I love Louise I don't love you too."

Henrietta looked up into his eyes and melted into his embrace. "I love you Saito."

"Henrietta, we never finished the ceremony, but I think we were at the part where the old man was going to ask if I would love you forever and stay by your side in sickness and in health until death do us part." Saito said with a grin.

"Will you?"

"I do. And will you put up with me for the rest of my days even though I'm going to probably be having children by other women, making you worry, and otherwise making your life miserable?" Saito asked with an even bigger grin.

"I do." Henrietta answered with a laugh that only ceased when Saito caught her lips with his own. They stood there kissing passionately until Saito heard a rather dainty voice clearing her throat.

Saito and Henrietta broke their liplock to see an irate sorceress tapping her foot impatiently at the edge of the hot spring. Siesta and Tabitha were spying from the door to the girl's changing room. Siesta was openly crying. "That was the most romantic thing I've ever seen."

Henrietta was a deep red and not entirely from embarrassment. "We haven't done anything, just like I promised."

"Yet." Louise snorted as her best friend and bitter rival climbed out of the water and wrapped a towel around her body. "You better show us to our rooms, dog, before you end up mating."

"Yes, mistress."

"I'll help you dress master." Siesta offered with an undisguised leer.

"Down girl." Louise reprimanded. "Saito is sleeping with us tonight."

"Us?" Saito asked as he looked at the other girls and saw Henrietta blushing heavily.

"Saito, I... I want to see if we can make it home before we... well, you know. I want my first time to be something special instead of just something we did while we were on the run or adventuring. That's why we're going to do this together, Henrietta is going to keep me honest and Tabitha and Siesta will be with you when we're not." Louise offered in explanation. She almost sounded like... she was pleading with him.

"I don't know if I like that suggestion." Saito said heavily as he stepped closer to the diminutive little woman who had stolen his heart.

"Please... Saito, for me?" Louise begged. He could tell she wanted him. He wanted her too. Her resolve wouldn't stand against his advances if he pushed her, he knew it. Still he relented, not wanting to hurt the woman he loved.

"Yes, love." Saito agreed. "When?"

"As soon as we get home. The only place I've ever felt at home with you was in our room at the academy. I... I want it to be there, so I can prepare myself. Please wait until we get back. Let me love you where I feel like I'm home." Louise gushed.

Saito nodded and headed off to get dressed, behind him he never heard the explosive breath Louise let out as soon as he had disappeared.

* * *

><p>"I love my life." Saito said in contentment as he felt his two loves wrapped around him. Louise was in his arms where she belonged, with his arms wrapped around her waist and her body cradled against his chest while Henrietta's arms were around <em>his<em> waist and she nestled against his back.

"I love your life too." Louise said sleepily.

"I hope you roll over again soon." Henrietta complained playfully.

Saito leaned down to kiss Louise on the neck and rolled over to kiss Henrietta good morning too.

"The snoring takes some getting used to." Siesta said as she came into the room. "Good morning, Majesty, Master, and Mistress."

"To be honest I wasn't able to sleep much just because it was my first time having a man in the bed with me." Henrietta said with a blush as she got up to the breakfast that Siesta had brought with her. Louise was likewise rising while Saito noticed Siesta's attire.

"That's the inn's hostess uniform." Saito noted looking his maid over.

"Yes, I went to the kitchen this morning to prepare breakfast and Grandfather told me I could wear this while I was working. There are some of what he calls 'Westerners' staying in the inn and I helped the kitchen staff this morning prepare breakfast for them too." The girl reported happily before laying a hand on Saito before he too could get out of bed.

"Breakfast in bed?" Saito asked uneasily.

"Sort of." Siesta chirped before jumping on top of him and claiming her good morning kiss.

"How am I ever going to safeguard my familiar's virginity until we get home?" Louise asked rhetorically.

"You could always get a chastity belt." Henrietta helpfully offered as the two ate breakfast.

"Stay." Siesta ordered when she got up from kissing Saito.

"Even the maid has started ordering him like a dog. Good girl Siesta. There's hope for you yet." Louise mumbled between mouthfuls of poached egg.

Siesta happily put a tray over Saito's lap and began setting out dishes in front of the swordsman. Saito's eyes began to water as a traditional Japanese breakfast was given to him. "Siesta, did you make this?"

"Some of it. The kitchen staff helped me with the rest of it." Siesta said happily. Saito rewarded his maid with another kiss and eyed his food with a growling stomach.

"Grandfather is eating breakfast with Tabitha. He wants to see you and Louise after you eat. He said he was going to take you to the shrine today." Siesta reported before getting her cart ready to leave.

Saito finished his breakfast and headed off for the shrine with Louise in tow. His grandfather had grown tired of waiting and had already left by the time he'd gotten dressed and downstairs. It was late fall and the cold morning air had him wrapping his arm around Louise to keep the small girl warm. Saito couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness at the idea of possibly not being able to get the girls home. The idea that his grandmother had been from Gallia was a shock, and hopefully something would turn up, but he wanted to get home.

**A/N: Sorry for the late post. I hate working weekends.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note: Well things should be winding down soon for this story as we head for the climax. I hope to end this in just a few more chapters so be looking forward to the ending.**

Chapter 13.

Saito and Louise met the elder Hiraga and Tabitha in front of the small shrine that joined the inn's property. More of an attraction now than anything else, the small shrine had acted as his grandmother's study while she had been alive. Now Saito only hoped that the secret to them getting home was buried somewhere in her research.

"Well grandson, why don't we familiars let these young ladies get started looking around in the temple?" Gramps said pulling him aside. The two girls thanked him and disappeared inside while Saito eyed the two practice swords his grandfather carried.

"What's with the swords?" Saito asked with a grin.

"I just thought I'd see what you've learned..." The old man said with a similar, but much older grin.

Saito smiled and accepted one of the weapons from his elderly opponent and squared off against him in the yard of the shrine. His grandfather knew how to hold a sword, so Saito warily circled to look for an opening.

"Take it easy on an old man now." Grandfather Hiraga said with a soft chuckle.

Saito knew he was facing a former Gandalfr and wasted no time in his attack. He didn't have a real sword which limited what he could do, but he still had more extensive training in swordplay than most young men his age. Even if his rune had been guiding his hands when he was normally fighting, if you get in to enough life or death struggles you tend to pick up on a few things.

Saito was surprised at how swiftly he disarmed his grandfather. With only a couple swift strokes he knocked the sword up out of his hands and caught it deftly. "Why aren't you fighting me seriously?"

"Who says I'm not!" The older man huffed. "Congratulations boy, you just beat and elderly history teacher."

"I figured since you were a familiar yourself..." Saito started.

"Not all familiars serve in combat son." The older man lectured as he massaged his wrist. "I just wanted to see how good you are. You're definitely better than I ever was."

Saito grinned and showed his grandfather his rune. "This helps, I'm geared specifically for combat. But still, my rune doesn't work on practice swords."

"Lucky me." Grandfather griped. "You're supposed to let old men win out of respect you know."

"Sorry Gramps." Saito said with a deep smile as he bowed to his progenitor.

"Hey Saito, are these magician uniforms from your world?" Louise asked behind him.

Saito turned to see a vision that made him certain his recurring fantasy of coming home to four beautiful young women was going to be getting a makeover.

Before him, Tabitha and Louise had changed into the traditional shrine maiden outfits that were stored in the temple. Saito openly stared with his jaw going slack. He expected his grandfather to slap him upside the back of the head, but a quick glance told him his grandfather was also similarly incapacitated.

"Y-y-y-ou don't have to stare so much." Louise stammered.

"My apologies my dear." The elder Hiraga said quickly brushing a stray rivulet of hemoglobin from his lip. "It's just the two of you remind me so much of my late wife."

"What? Both of them?" Saito asked incredulously.

"Well... yes." The old man replied defensively. "An ear here, a nose there... Those were your grandmother's clothes."

Tabitha looked down at the outfit. "It fits us perfectly."

"Yes. Yes they do." The aged teacher said wistfully. "Why don't you kids get started looking through Amelia's notes? I think I'm going to go visit her. It's been a while since she and I talked."

Saito nodded at the melancholy in his patriarch's voice as he wandered toward the footpath he remembered that led to his grandmother's grave in the forest.

"Did we hurt Grandfather?" Louise asked in trepidation.

"No. I imagine he's just missing Granny seeing the two of you like that. He really, really loved her." Saito said looking around the shrine. Bookcases covered the walls and a large cushion sat in front of a low desk where his grandmother did her reading.

Saito wasn't much of a bookworm, and fortunately his grandmother took notes in her native language. There were however some scrolls on the history of the village and occasionally the girls would have him translate something. For the most part, Saito stayed outside lounging around and napping. This was the part of being a familiar he hated. He was a being of action, taking initiative and defending his master. Sometimes though the familiar simply had nothing to do while his master did her research.

A quiet sob brought Saito's attention back to reality, where he'd been happily imagining a house full of girls in shrine maiden outfits. Saito darted into the shrine to find Louise unsuccessfully trying to console a sobbing Tabitha. As he entered, Tabitha dropped the book she was reading and latched onto him for dear life.

"What is it Tabitha?" Saito prodded gently as the normally unemotional girl quivered uncontrollably in his arms.

"I'm so sorry Saito, I'm so sorry. We did it, my family is the one responsible." Tabitha wailed.

"What? What's wrong?" The familiar continued.

"Saito, we're cousins." Tabitha moaned. "It was my family that attacked your grandmother's estate. I... I was curious so I looked at your grandmother's diary. There's no mistake Saito. The estate your grandmother lived in belongs to my family now. It was near the lake where you met the lake spirit. Your grandmother mentioned that she lost her older sister in the attack when they were separated. Her name was the same as my grandmother's. If it's true... I think that... the people that attacked the estate that night were my ancestors. They took... they took her older sister and forced her to marry my grandfather. We're... cousins Saito. I'm so, so sorry."

"Why? What should it matter now what happened then? Tabitha, you have nothing to be sorry for." Saito said comforting the girl.

Saito looked to Louise for help but the other girl was wrapping her arms around her and looked jealous. She quickly stepped out and left the two of them standing there. Saito didn't have a clue why she looked so angry, but since it hadn't resulted in her usual explosive fit, he counted himself lucky.

"Louise is angry isn't she?" Tabitha said with a sniffle.

"I wish I knew why." Saito admitted.

"Nobles in our world frequently marry close to their families. Being your cousin will make my family seek you out as a potential husband for me." Tabitha explained.

"Is that why you were crying?" Saito asked aghast.

"Partly. My family tends to be vicious. You've seen what happened with my mother. I've brought more turmoil into your life, and into your relationship with Louise. That's why I'm sorry." The quiet girl whispered apologetically.

"No biggy." Saito said kissing her forehead. "You wait here. I'll go get Louise calmed and we'll keep searching."

"Do we have to?" Tabitha asked suddenly.

"I better, she'll be steamed for days otherwise." Saito replied with a chuckle.

"No, I mean do we really have to go home?" Tabitha said quickly. "Can't we just stay here like your grandmother did and start a new life and forget all about the kingdoms?"

Saito understood Tabitha's pain. He knew what she was going through with her family. "You know we can't abandon those we love."

"You love someone still over there?" She quietly asked.

"No, but I know Louise and Henrietta will never rest until they find a way home. I don't think they could ever be truly happy here. And I'll follow Louise wherever she leads me because I love her. And I know you'll be there by my side as well when we return."

"Because I love you." Tabitha confessed.

"And it's because I love you too that I'm going to try making you happy in our own world." Saito promised. "Now I better go smooth things over with Louise."

Saito swore under his breath as he looked around the small lake near the temple for his errant girlfriend. She was probably going to somehow blame him for somehow against all rationality arranging this whole thing. He found the girl sitting under a tree and staring out at the water. She looked calm but Saito knew from experience that looks could be deceiving.

"You're contemplating what to do to me aren't you." Saito accused the girl softly as he sat down.

"Why not, you've collected another one." Louise fumed. She was quiet though, like she was really hurting, so Saito approached it gently.

"Tabitha has been hanging around with us for quite a while you know." Saito reminded her. He wrapped his arm around the girl. It was early autumn and she was shivering a little in the crisp mountain air.

"I never really expected much from her though. I thought she just had a crush that would eventually wane and go away." Louise admitted.

"I'm sorry." Saito said softly.

"You'd think after I had to give you up to marry Henrietta that I'd be used to it now, but every time... every time I see one of the other girls fawning over you I get so mad." Louise complained.

"It's frustrating for me too." Saito added. "The harder I fight to get close to you and only you the more these girls seem to get into my life. I wish I had just said 'screw it' to everything and flung you over my shoulder and headed for the border the second Henrietta proposed."

"You're only saying that to make me feel better." Louise accused her love. "You'd never abandon Henrietta no more than when you defied everyone to go save Tabitha."

A sudden thought crossed Saito's mind. He remembered his words to Tabitha. "We can't abandon those we love."

Louise rounded on him violently then. "I'm really frustrated here you dog! Could you try to avoid proclaiming your love for my rivals while I'm sitting here with you."

Saito grinned and grabbed the struggling girl around the waist and pulled her into his lap. While she beat on his chest he wrestled her to the ground and began kissing her passionately. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what?" The void mage shouted back defiantly.

"I mean, that when I defied the queen and went after Tabitha you stayed by my side and was willing to give up your title to help me. You love me. You don't like to say it out loud, and you won't be honest with yourself about it, but you really love me." Saito informed his diminutive master.

"I... I..." Louise stammered with a red face.

Saito grew quiet and looked down for a moment. "Tabitha's family isn't going to take 'no' for an answer are they..."

Louise grew quiet as well and looked genuinely troubled. "Probably not. Their king has no heirs and the way they do things they wouldn't be above going to war with Henrietta to get to you."

"Am I really that important?" Saito mused.

"You're a legendary war hero. Just having you associated with their military would discourage their enemies from crossing them. You _did_ take on an army by yourself you know..." Louise whispered smugly.

"I've got to fix this too don't I..." Saito said morosely. Louise merely nodded. "Then let me hear it Louise."

Louise looked frightened, as Saito stared into her eyes. "What?"

"Let me know that I'm going through all this for a good reason. I will confess to you that I care a great deal for Tabitha and the other girls, some might even say I love them. But I love you more. I want to be with you forever, and I need to know that... you love me too. I need to know that you aren't going to hate me because I might have to be married to someone else, or father this child or that one for the sake of whatever country. My life is meaningless if you aren't in it." Saito whispered into his lover's ear as he nuzzled her close. Louise quivered on the verge of tears.

"If you ever repeat these words I'll kill you." Louise threatened. Saito just chuckled softly and pulled her close. "I love you too Saito. So much it makes my chest ache. I know I get jealous of the other girls, but I couldn't leave you even if you slept with a whole army of women. I'll be by your side forever as long as you'll stay by mine."

Saito wrapped his arms around Louise's waist and held her close to his chest. "Don't worry, I'll never say another word about it. I'm too scared too."

"Why, too frightened of your master?" Louise cooed.

"No... I just don't want to think about the possibility of an 'army' of women when we happen to know Agnes and her all female musketeer squadron..." Saito said with a shiver.

* * *

><p>"I hope you're close to being able to summon back the queen." Duke Valliere said worriedly as he looked over the reports. "It's almost like they had them already prepared just waiting for the opportunity."<p>

"Well, we _have_ been fighting a lot recently." Osmond said sorrowfully. "I guess they've gotten good at mobilizing for war."

"If we don't get the queen back soon this is going to be bad. Even if she does get back in time I doubt we're going to be able to stop the bloodshed. The lords are too well prepared. We can expect the siege shortly, with winter still too far off." A concerned general reported to the Duke.

"We won't last a week Osmond." Duke Valliere mentioned to the old wizard. "Whatever you've got, you need to use it now. The queen has been missing for weeks now. If something doesn't change soon it's the gallows for the both of us."

"It will take me some time, but I'll begin the preparations." Osmond said nodding. "No matter where they are in the world I'll bring them here."

"For all our sakes I hope you're correct." The Duke agreed. "These troops will be here before the end of the week. It'll take time for them to set up, to make sure we know they mean business and then they'll be wanting to discuss terms of surrender."

Osmond nodded sadly and fell into step beside his assistant. The two were silent as they headed for the carriage that would return them to the academy. "What are you going to do?" Ms. Longueville asked.

"I'm going to prepare a ritual summoning, that's what I'm going to do." The old man said simply as he glanced out the window at the palace falling away from view.

"But, no one can do that." The young woman countered. "That ritual won't work and you know it."

"On the contrary, my dear. I can summon them from anywhere in the world." Osmond said assuredly. _I only wish they actually were IN our world._ The old man thought to himself. It made no sense to worry about it now. He would proceed with _a _ritual at least. Right now that was the only hope that any of them had.

**A/N: I'm sorry, I have a thing for tomboyish women. The idea of Agnes and her musketeer squadron brings several things to mind that would make this story much more than an 'M'...**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's note: I absolutely adored writing about the frying pan...**

Chapter 14.

Dawn arrived as it usually did over the mountains of Japan, light pouring over the countryside filling in the cracks where night reluctantly let loose it's tenuous grip on the morning. At the inn, the peaceful morning was getting off to a wonderful start. At least as far Henrietta was concerned.

"Just a little lower, Saito." The breathless queen pleaded.

"If I do, Louise is going to kill me." Saito said desperately trying to hold back a nosebleed.

"It's not like we're really having sex, it just feels really good when you rub me down there." Henrietta begged.

"Look, I've got the basic idea. I know you think I need to be prepared for Louise, but she'll seriously freak out if I put my hand on your...yo... yo..." Saito stammered as his will began to break under the soft moans of his queen and technically, his wife.

"Yes, she will." Siesta replied smugly from the door. "That's why I'm next."

Saito looked up pitifully from where his wandering hands were now kneading the soft supple skin of Henrietta's back... or rather her backside. "You're early." Henrietta noted with a deadpan.

"Since mistress has been going to her research early in the mornings, she thought I might want to keep an eye on you two." The smug little maid said as she casually sat down on the bed next to Saito as he was straddling Henrietta's legs looking like he'd just been caught with a mistress instead of his wife. "I won't tell, but that looks like it'd be awfully nice."

"You should have waited about thirty more minutes then." Henrietta grumbled as she turned over. Saito rolled off to the side as she sat up and demurely covered her bare chest.

"You were seducing me?" Saito said tearfully.

Both young women looked at him curiously, and then went back to talking as if they seemed to forget he was there. "Oh, so it's the 'get his hands in the vicinity and then roll over slowly' technique is it?" Siesta inquired.

"No, I just figured if I let him massage long enough nature would run its course when the blanket slipped a little lower." Henrietta replied offhandedly.

"Nice." The maid said appreciatively.

Henrietta was suddenly seized and thrown down to the bed roughly with Siesta joining her in short order. Saito's arms spread wide to capture the girls between his hands spread out on the bed as he hovered over the two of them. "I know two naughty little girls that are about to have a lot more they're going to want kept from Louise." Saito said dangerously with a wicked gleam in his eye that had Henrietta's heart fluttering.

"Oh yes master, Siesta has been really naughty. She needs to be punished." The maid cried as she blushed madly and flipped over to present her own bottom.

_Not so bad yourself._ Henrietta thought as Saito prepared to discipline his flirtatious servant in ways Henrietta could only vaguely fantasize about. Then he was gone.

Henrietta looked over to see Louise standing at the door to the room with her arm outstretched. Saito lay in the floor next to the bed unconscious with a large knot on his head and a large skillet lying next to him. "You're early." Henrietta and Siesta deadpanned in unison.

"I never should have trusted the maid." Louise said between heaving breaths. After all it probably had taken a lot to run back in a shrine maiden outfit, stop at the kitchen, grab the biggest skillet she could find, run up to the room, and brain her witless familiar once she'd realized her error in entrusting the prey to a fellow huntress.

* * *

><p>It was almost like a real family arguing around the breakfast table... almost. "Well, I <em>am<em> his wife."

"Well, _I'm_ his master." Louise grated out at her queen.

"As long as I'm still his maid." Siesta said happily as she gingerly fed the bandaged object of everyone's lust.

The only one not really into the middle of the fight was Tabitha, who ate quietly and then set back out again for the temple to study. Grandfather Hiraga watched the three girls fussing over his grandson and sighed. It was like watching one of the daytime melodramas his wife had become addicted to after coming to their world. Young people always seemed to leave behind messes that needed cleaning up he supposed.

The elderly ex-familiar wandered down toward the temple quietly, taking his time. Tabitha needed a shoulder to cry on, but the introverted little girl needed to be alone for at least a moment or two to realize how alone she was. Children could be so silly.

The patriarch of the Hiraga family paused at the door to the temple until he heard the sniffle, that told him she was ready. The old man stepped in and waited. She knew he was there. It was now her turn to move. "I was curious. I was studying some of your culture. Saito's mother is your daughter, and yet she didn't take the name of her husband; Saito's father."

"Saito's father was a young man from the city who came out here while he was wandering around Japan. I gave him a job here at the inn and for a while he stayed. it was here he met Saito's mother and they fell in love." The old man said with a chuckle as he joined the quiet girl in admiring a portrait of he and his elderly wife holding a baby Saito not long before she died. He wondered briefly if the girl realized she was looking at a picture of herself in another fifty years. "He reminded me so much of myself that Amelia would laugh and say that he was more like my son than my own daughter was like my daughter. Our name is well respected in this village, so he decided to take our family name when they married. I don't think you're that interested in where his name came from though, are you?"

"Did she hate us?"

Gramps nodded to himself, they were getting warmer. "It would be hard for her to hate her own kin." The old man said sitting down on one of the cushions.

"Not really. Believe me." Tabitha said bitterly.

"You weren't there that night child. Neither is anyone still living in all likelihood. I daresay no one who was old enough to have planned the attack could be." The aged man said wearily. Why did she have to be so much like her? He could already guess what she would say next. Seventy years at someone's side could give you all kinds of insights.

"I'll be there for the next one though." Tabitha murmured. "My relatives will never let Saito live in peace if they know a fraction of what we've discovered." The young sorceress said looking around at the books and scrolls that littered one of the foremost scholars of the history of their two worlds and magic.

"And I'm sure you'll defend him beautifully." The old man whispered, as he held out his hand to guide the hurting young woman to sit next to him in the study of his late wife. "I know because _she_ would have. You're more like her than you know. Now how about we talk about what's _really_ bothering you." He said looking at her over the top of the rim of his glasses.

Tabitha nearly crumbled at his words as skills honed for seventy years loving a woman just like this one allowed him to bring out the hurt so she could find comfort. The small girl sniffled a little as a stray tear fell from her eye. "All of them have ties to him except for me. Whether it's Henrietta his lawful wife, Louise his master, or Siesta his property. You don't know how much I envy her belonging to him. At least _she_ has something that ties her to him."

"And love doesn't count?" The elder asked her gently.

"Love? How could he love me? My family attacked his, _I've_ attacked him, I don't know how to show emotion as well as the other girls. How can I possibly hope to ever have him love me as I am? I'll only ever be his friend." Tabitha bemoaned.

"I suppose fighting off the whole country of Gallia and defying my queen to save you doesn't count?" Saito said as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and propped his head against the back of hers.

The elderly man looked back to see the girls looking ashamed that they hadn't noticed their friend's distress that morning. They had apparently noticed their departure from the breakfast table and finally come to investigate. Tabitha still just pressed on. "Louise is right, you just don't know when to give up; just like in the story books. you should know better than to try to save... someone like me."

Saito floundered for something to say. The old man's heart ached as he remembered all the years he'd been unable to soothe Amelia's pain at losing her home and family. These two looked now just like they had looked back then. A young reticent girl unable to deal with her own pain and a young man too inexperienced in love to help her. He wasn't about to let it happen to two more people when he stood ready to end it. He would simply have to deal with his own pain.

"You're right." The old man said standing. "Tabitha you will never know peace, from the sins of your own past and that of your family until you can atone."

"How could I possibly..."

"With your life." The old man said fiercely.

"Now Gramps! That's enough!" Saito shouted said standing up to face his patriarch head on.

"Silence boy!" The elder Hiraga barked bringing him up short just like he had his mother so many times before.

"I will pay whatever price if it means making up for the turmoil I've brought into Saito's life." Tabitha said formally. "I will accept any punishment."

"Then it is agreed." The elder said with mock force. His hand trembled as he reached into his tunic and removed the small chain he had worn around his neck for more than fourteen years. His voice quivered only slightly as he tilted his head to the side and softly looked down at the girl that reminded him so much of his Amelia. "Then will you marry my grandson?"

The girls were all stunned as they drew in sudden breaths, and Tabitha stared at him agape as he held out his arm with two golden wedding bands dangling from the end of the chain he'd always worn around his neck after his wife died. "But Gramps, I'm already married to..."

"This is Japan son, and you are Japanese. I don't recall the government of Japan ever recognizing the laws from the other side as valid and binding here." The old man said defensively. Granted, wedding rings were a Gallian and western custom that Amelia had insisted upon but as long as the youngsters didn't think about it too much... "Besides, it was the custom in our land not so long ago for a young man's elders to decide whom it was he would marry. In your own lands as well too I believe."

Henrietta nodded sadly. It seemed she was willing to admit defeat.

"But we're hoping to return home." Louise interjected.

"And then you will be bound by the laws there, but here, in this land, Tabitha will be your wife." Gramps pressed on. "So child, was it all talk? Are you really prepared to spend your life by his side, loving him, supporting him, and bearing everything with him?"

Tabitha was now openly crying with happy tears that threatened to pull the tears from an old man's own aching heart. "I belong to him now and forever just as surely as Siesta."

"Wives don't 'belong' to their husbands, Tabitha." Henrietta said pulling her to her feet. "I'm beginning to understand it runs... much, much deeper than that."

"Then it's decided. I'll have a priest who's a friend of mine come by and we'll have a traditional Japanese wedding." Gramps said holding back a tear as he let go of something precious he'd held onto for fourteen years.

Saito bowed to his grandfather as Siesta hustled Tabitha out to what was sure to be a really big party that night in the inn. Gramps decided he'd call his daughter and son-in-law to see if they could make it.

"And yet another woman marries the man I love." Louise sniffed as she watched her friends and rivals depart.

Gramps patted the girl's shoulder softly. "Do not worry child, Saito's heart will always be yours. With this Tabitha will have the tie that binds her to Saito she was missing, and her heart might finally know peace. So how goes the search for a way home?"

"I think I might have found your wife's..."

"Call her 'grandmother' or 'granny' if you like child. She would welcome you as a daughter." The old man corrected.

"Okay. I think I found grandmother's notes on the portal. I don't think it's going to do us much good though. Without a properly enchanted wand I'd never be able to focus enough of my power into the spell to open the portal, even if this place does have a connection to our world." Louise said with a melancholy sigh.

"I see." The old man said watching his grandson waiting outside for the woman he loves holding the wedding bands that had started it all and staring at them with wonder. "Well, no time to worry about that now. Let's go get Saito hitched before some sort of childhood friend shows up to complicate your love story any more shall we?"

Louise laughed a little which made him feel better and Gramps turned out the light in the study and closed the door. As he turned, watching Saito and Louise walk hand in hand towards the inn, he thought he could smell a familiar fragrance on the chilly autumn wind. He looked towards Amelia's grave and breathed in the autumn air and swore for just a moment, he could smell her perfume once more.

**A/N: This was the chapter I was writing a few weeks ago when I made the comment about drama that was misplaced. I just had to sigh at this one. I better get busy, I still have a couple of chapters to write before next week to finish up this story.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Sorry for not posting last night as usual. I've been out of town. I hope you enjoy this week's installment.**

Chapter 15.

"Why did I have to share the bed with my rivals on my wedding night?" Tabitha groused to his left.

"Feel privileged, I didn't even get to sleep with him on _my_ wedding night." Henrietta retorted from his right.

"Yeah, but you got that romantic moment in the hot spring with him." Siesta offered from his left hip.

"Like you haven't ever bathed with him." Louise pointed out from his right hip.

Saito prayed beyond hope that the four young women currently sharing his bed might somehow, some WAY, think he was still asleep. Unfortunately, pinned as he was under four beautiful young women, it was only a matter of time before his body would betray him.

It had been a simple little service. Only a few of the inns' senior staff that remembered his grandmother and his parents had even made an appearance. It had been a quiet ceremony for a quiet girl. Saito couldn't decide if the tears she kept shedding were tears of joy or tears of grief. Now as he lay under the girls wishing to be nowhere else, and yet elsewhere at the same time, he began to understand.

"All four of us didn't have to sleep in here last night." Siesta complained. The feel of her generous bosom rubbing against his thigh nearly did him in on the spot. _Please girls, have your eyes closed._

"Apparently my husband is awake." Henrietta noted clinically. _Dang it._

"Not necessarily. I've read that men get aroused early in the morning when they are still asleep as their body prepares to wake up." Tabitha said quietly.

"I bet the dog is just playing at being asleep again." Louise complained and slid up Saito's leg to get a closer look at this face. That was the last draw. As the woman he loved slid her body up hi thigh and hip he could feel her thighs one either side of his own and his body reacted all on its own. Her cute little gasp let him know that she had both felt and most likely looking at him saluting her.

"Wow." Henrietta said in a whisper.

"I've... never seen it before." Tabitha said quietly.

Saito cracked his eyes open to see Louise straddling one of his legs, sitting back on her knees, and covering her stomach with both hands as she stared down in horror at the thing which had inadvertently poked her. Saito could just see the soft white fabric of her panties sitting on his leg, but it was the feel of her body through the fabric that was driving him wild.

"I want my good morning kiss." Saito practically growled at the diminutive girl on top of him as he struggled to rise as the other three held him down.

"Now... now... Saito. Y-y-y-you said you would wait until we got home." Louise whimpered.

"Down boy." Henrietta commanded trying to hold one arm as Saito strained to reach Louise.

Saito grinned and lay back against the bed before pitching his girlfriend forward with the knee she was sitting on. The skittish girl now had his manhood pressed to her stomach as she lay on his chest wide eyed. Saito took advantage of the surprise attack to reach up with his lips and claim his prize of her waiting lips.

"Saito please." Louise begged, pulling her head reluctantly back. "Can't you wait until we get home?"

Saito settled back and grew quiet for a moment. "What if _this_ turns out to be home Louise?"

Louise's sorrowful expression was killing him, but it had been weeks now. Sooner or later the girls were going to have to come to grips with it. "I love you, Louise. I've loved you since we first met, and you gave me that first kiss. Please don't reject me."

There was a deep melancholy in Henrietta's voice as she interjected. "He's right Louise. We might never make it home. You should go ahead, and love while you have the chance. We never know when we might regret not having been with the person we love."

"You said yourself that you didn't think you'd be able to open any sort of a portal without a wand." Tabitha added. "If this is where we stay, I'll be happy as long as I'm with Saito."

"We promised mistress, and we'll keep our word. You are Saito's first love." Siesta urged.

Louise sat up and Saito felt the hold on his arms weaken. He didn't care anymore. He didn't care that there were three other girls in the bed with the two of them. Right now, only Louise existed in his universe. She was scared now, sitting up again. Saito reached up and pulled her up over the top of him, until she was straddling his waist and whimpering as he gently began opening up her sleeping robe to reveal her body to him. the only thing between him and the woman he loved were those pure white cotton panties that has was getting ready to take off and fulfill his desire.

At least that was what should have happened. There was one other thing now between him and the woman he loved and that was a cold grey iron skillet that was now resting against his face after a very rapid deceleration.

"What an unlucky mother I am to have a brute of a son who'd take a helpless girls virginity away from her in front of three other girls." Saito's mother said sadly.

The moment and the mesmerizing hold he had temporarily held over Louise now completely dissipated, Saito looked at his collection of young women hurriedly throwing on more presentable clothing and died a little more inside. "Good morning, mom."

* * *

><p>"About time you decided to get up." Grandfather noted clinically as Saito's little family joined him in the dining room. His grandfather had apparently not noticed the large bruises all over his face or else was pretending not to.<p>

"Where's Dad?" Saito asked.

"Still asleep, apparently your mother has been keeping him up at night." Grandfather reported dryly. Saito shivered a little and just kept telling himself it was because she'd been yelling at him... even though the inn had been eerily quiet last night after the party had ended.

The blushes all around on all the girls told Saito where their opinions on the matter lay. "So why didn't you let us... sleep in a little more."

Grandfather didn't seem to notice the pause as he pressed on merrily. "We never got a chance to give out the wedding presents last night son."

"The only present I would have liked this morning, got taken away from me abruptly when mom came in and told me you wanted to see us." Saito grumbled. He hated to be short with his elder, but he had really been wanting to finally consummate his love with Louise. "Who could have brought..."

"It would be very rude not to accept them." Grandfather said in a low threatening tone that made Saito gulp before finishing his last sentence.

"So what did you get for the two of them." Louise said nervously as she changed the subject.

Saito stared at the girl. She was intentionally avoiding eye contact. "What's wrong Louise?"

"I'm... I'm just trying to prepare myself for... for tonight. I'll stop trying to run away. I know you love me Saito. I'll be ready... tonight. We'll never make it home I guess so waiting until we can get back to the academy isn't going to work." Louise explained.

Saito nodded and got a grip on his raging hormones. Tonight he would finally become one with Louise.

"Well, then let's get out the gifts." Grandfather said with aplomb. "First, since Tabitha was married last night, we'll present her with this."

Tabitha looked haunted as grandfather gave her a small box. "What is this?" The quiet girl said as she opened it to find various items of jewelry.

"It belonged to Saito's grandmother before she came to our world. Those were the family jewels of her people. I want you to have them. They'll only fit you anyway." Grandfather explained gently as he hugged the girl. "I know you feel guilty having been through all you have and seeing Saito the way you do, but always remember that as long as you are by his side it will be okay."

Tabitha cried and clutched the box to her chest for dear life. Siesta patted her shoulder kindly, and smiled.

"My next gift is for your majesty." Grandfather said happily. "This one is not a family heirloom I'm afraid, but you will hopefully find it useful. Since I used to be a history professor I found some really good text books on sociology and political science. I hope you enjoy them. At least once you have Saito read them to you."

"I'm sure I'll enjoy reading them." Henrietta said diplomatically. Saito knew they would probably never reach Tristain again so the odds of her ever applying the knowledge in those books was practically nil.

"And for you my beloved little Siesta, who has made my inn the talk of the village with your gourmet cooking, I give you this." Grandfather said pulling out a weathered old tome. "Not all of my wife's research was into magic. Believe it or not she actually began to enjoy cooking. Here are all her recipes. You should find it helpful in taking care of my grandson. And remember child, if they way to a man's heart is through his stomach it helps to have a map."

The old man gave her a conspiratorial wink and the young maid had a gleam in her eye as the other girls looked on her with new found trepidation.

"My final gift is for you Louise." Grandfather said quietly as he stood. "All of you come with me."

Saito and the girls stood and followed their elder out into the forest surrounding the inn. He led them to the little shrine that had served as his grandmother's library and brought them inside. Inside, his mother and father were sitting patiently.

"Are... are you giving me grandmother's study, grandfather?" Louise asked formally.

"No. No I'm not. I have something far more precious to impart." Saito's grandfather said as he stepped over to part of the floor and began removing floor boards. When he stood he brought up a long object wrapped in silk. "This has been handed down in our family for generations. It was brought back by one of our ancestors from your world and was kept as a relic by the priests here in the village."

The old man pulled the cloth back and all the girls sucked in a breath. The staff looked like a traditional Japanese monk's staff with the golden tip and the rings on each side of it that would jingle as he walked. The part that had all the girls staring in wonder was the series of five black bands that graced the shaft of the staff below the golden headpiece.

Louise nearly cried. "We... we can go home."

"When you told me yesterday that all you lacked was an enchanted wand I had hoped that this might be what you needed. I didn't want to get your hopes up though. Will you be able to use this?" Grandfather asked.

"There's only one way to find out!" Louise crowed as she accepted the staff from the old man and raced outside. Saito's family (all of it), ran after the small girl. As she skidded to a halt on the shores of the lake she raised the mighty staff above her head and pointed it out toward the center of the lake. The explosion probably rattled the windows back at the end and sent water cascading down all over the small gathering of people. Louise was drenched, but he was practically glowing, and not just from the surge of magical energy through her.

"Are you alright?" Saito asked fearfully.

"Get ready. We're going home!"

**A/N: I've been considering a really racy epilogue to this story, but I think I might keep it toned down and change the rating on this to 'T' instead. I feel too guilty writing lemons.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: My apologies to everyone for not posting last weekend, I was out of town. I hope you enjoy this week's portion of my tale. Enjoy!**

Chapter 16.

"Now? But it's so sudden!" Siesta exclaimed as she clutched her precious cookbook against her breast to protect it from the magical downpour created from half the lake getting pitched into the atmosphere.

"That's my girl." Saito's mother said hugging the girl close. "That'll keep that son of mine in line."

Saito's father simply looked at him with the 'Are you sure about this son?' look that all father's master as they watch their sons doing incredibly stupid things all their life.

"Yes, we have to leave now. Henrietta has to get home immediately... and... I want to be back at the academy... for tonight." Louise said softly as she blushed madly.

"I'll help draw the circle." Tabitha offered. "The sooner we're home, the sooner the rest of us get a shot."

"I'll pack our things." Siesta said running for the inn.

"Don't forget my kimono!" Henrietta called after her.

"You'd better hurry." Grandfather said quickly to Saito. "Some of the older villagers know of the legends about the temple, but that won't keep someone from calling the cops or the military about an explosion that large. This place will be crawling with peopl in a few hours."

"I'll go prepare some rooms." Saito's mother said. "Reporters need places to sleep too."

"All you ever think about is money." Saito's father said as he fell in behind his wife. "Get going son, and remember your way home next time."

"Thanks Dad. We'll come visit when you've got grandchildren on the way." Saito chuckled.

"If we can get away that quickly." Henrietta added enigmatically.

"I've got our things!" Siesta said sprinting back in record time, dressed once again in her customary maid clothing.

Tabitha and Louise worked quickly to draw the circle outlined in grandmother's notes. The two practiced magi then gathered everyone into the center as Louise began chanting.

"Thank you for everything grandfather!" Saito shouted to his grandfather as the old man hobbled away from the glowing circle just as sirens could be heard in the distance.

"Just remember son, the most powerful weapon can't be held here." The old man said lifting his hand; the same hand which Saito's rune was on. "It's in here." he said sagely putting his hand over his heart. "Take care of your girls, and they'll take good care of you."

As Louise finished the incantation the world seemed to blur as a dark hole opened before them in the air. "This should be it."

"Should be? What if we're wrong? We could die." Siesta pointed out.

"Then we'll die together." Saito said looking down into Louise's eyes and taking her hand.

All the other girls latched onto Saito as well, and as the five young people stepped through the portal they faced their future for the first time as one.

* * *

><p>"Saito I don't think we're in Japan anymore." Louise said fearfully as she stared down at the spear point leveled at her eyes.<p>

"Obviously not." Saito growled as he glared at the armed guards. It looked like some sort of temple and there were people with pointy ears everywhere. "Elves, I presume?"

The guards continued to glower at the intruders into their holy place as Louise looked around desperately. "Do you think you can keep them off me long enough to open another portal? Not without a decent sword, but if these guys don't back off you girls this instant I'll be giving it a try anyway."

Saito looked ready to show off some of his martial prowess when a bright glow appeared above them.

"What now?" Siesta cried.

"I don't think the elves are responsible. Look they're running." Tabitha pointed out.

Elves were scrambling away as the five young people were surrounded in the nimbus of green light. "Dark portals and now glowing lights, what else is going to happen today?" Henrietta moaned.

Louise squinted her eyes shut as the light suddenly flashed, and when she opened them she saw... Old Osmond.

"It worked? Oh... um... I mean... See there? It worked!" Osmond piped officiously to the crowd of people gathered around in the castle chapel.

"But it took you five tries sir." Malicorne pointed out plaintively.

"Shut it boy. You ever seen anyone pull of a blind summoning like that?" Osmond huffed.

"But did you really need my panties to finish the spell headmaster?" Tifa whined as she tugged her dress down self consciously.

"Of course child, I don't play around when it comes to my magic." Osmond said wiping blood from his upper lip from the effort of wielding such powerful magic.

"We're HOME!" Louise shouted.

"It worked?" Duke Valliere said bursting into the room. "Louise!"

The man came in and immediately regained his composure. "It is good you are unharmed, Louise. Now, your majesty, I think there are things which require your attention."

Henrietta sighed and looked down at the inn's guest robe she still hadn't changed out of. "Let me guess an army on the doorstep right? And these were such comfortable clothes."

"Oh Henrietta, it was awful! Half the nobles rebelled when the bishop said that I was on the throne." Tifa wailed as she hugged Henrietta for support.

"Only half? You're doing pretty good then. The other half probably want to marry you." Henrietta noted clinically.

"So where have you been majesty? And what are those strange robes you're wearing?" Bishop Madolene interjected.

"They've been to Saito's world." Osmond replied knowingly.

"How... how did you know?" Saito asked in shock.

"I figured it out because of these." Osmond said pulling out the pink and blue flowers which were Louise and Saito's keepsakes from their time in Albion.

"The flowers? But..." Ms. Longueville asked suspiciously.

"Those flowers are part of an ancient magical rite." Osmond said pointing to them as he gave them back to Louise and Saito. "Did the two of you do anything special while you were in Albion."

"Yeah... _did_ you?" The Duke said menacingly at Saito.

"Well, when I thought I was going to be sacrificing myself to save Henrietta, I wanted to know what it was like to be married, so Saito and I had a little play service in the church where we exchanged vows." Louise said uneasily.

"You WHAT?" Duke Valliere boomed.

"That must have been it then." Osmond agreed seriously. "Even simple vows under the right conditions can activate the magic of the flowers and bind two people together forever."

"That's an elven marriage ritual." Tifa said seriously. "Is that why you were asking about that book headmaster?"

"Yes. It seems that Louise and Saito were married that day." Osmond affirmed.

"Didn't happen." Bishop Madolene denied. "The crown and the church do not recognize such unions as valid. Saito is our queen's husband."

"But bishop... the service..." Henrietta began.

"Did you say 'I do'?" Bishop Maolene pressed.

"Well... yes... eventually..."

"Did he say 'I do' too..." The old man continued.

"Well yeah..."

"Then did you kiss him?" Madolene demanded. Henrietta's shy blush was the only answer she could give. "See? Married. I'm not having all my work to get a husband for our queen go up in smoke just because some elf made up a silly cantrip with a couple of tulips. No offense, milday."

"None taken." Tifa graciously accepted.

"We're... married?" Saito said uneasily.

"Well, either way, it was enough of a ceremony to bind their souls together through magic. A union, I might add that the scepter recognized. It's is designed to lash out against lies and deception after all." Osmond continued.

"That's right! It used to be a tradition for nobles to swear fealty to the king while holding on to his scepter. I wonder why the stopped?" Henrietta asked innocently.

"Probably fried too many nobles." Tabitha replied cynically.

"We're MARRIED?" Saito repeated.

"So how did we end up on Saito's world?" Louise continued.

"The rune on Saito's hand is capable of teleporting him out of harm's way if necessary to save his life. You'll remember it happened once when he was fighting that army. The power of the scepter probably activated the rune and sent him somewhere safe... namely, home. You girls holding on to him got pulled along for the ride." Osmond explained.

"That was months ago..." Saito grated.

"Well, that's all very educational... but your majesty, the army? They need you right now. There's four powerful lords preparing to storm the castle unless we surrender and your presence...

"THAT. IS. IIIIIIIIIIT!" Saito bellowed at the top of his lungs. "GUICHE! MY SWORD!"

Guiche was there in an instant. "Right here with you buddy."

"Where are you going?" Henrietta asked as Saito stormed toward the door.

"I'm the queen's bloody champion aren't I?" Saito growled as he strode purposefully toward the chapel doors. "SIESTA!"

Gone was the soft voice of a youth unsure of his destiny. The voice Saito used on Siesta had become one of man on a mission. "Yes, master." Siesta quivered adoringly. It turned Louise's stomach to see her scraping for him like that.

"Get a coach ready and get your mistress to the academy. I want her bathed, naked, and in our bed with clean sheets on it when I get there." Saito commanded.

All of a sudden, Louise started quivering too. Saito was going alpha dog on her and it was churning her insides like butter. "But... but... Saito..."

"Now see here." Duke Valliere said getting in between Saito and the door. A distinction shared by no other sane male in the room. "You're married to..."

"Your daughter. I'm married to Henrietta too. I married Tabitha while I was back in my world. And I _intend_ to marry Siesta just as soon as Bishop Madolene finds some other culture he doesn't agree with. I have been married to your daughter for months now, and I haven't gotten the chance to do a BLOODY thing because of this army or that army getting in the way, and I'm sick of it. First I am going to go down there and beat some sense into these rebels, and then I'm going to go home to the academy and sleep with my wife." Saito ranted.

"But her older sisters aren't married!" Valliere retorted.

"Then I'll marry them next!" Saito raged irrationally. Louise gulped at the idea that Saito as he was right now could probably tame her eldest sister. "Than after I get done making Luoise mine and mine alone I'm going to come back here and get Henrietta pregnant so the nobility will leave her alone. Then I'm going to raise an army an go kill that jerk on the throne of Gallia that made Tabitha cry and I'm going to put her on the throne and get HER pregnant."

"And then you'll marry me?" Siesta meekly interjected.

"Yes, I am." Saito said fiercely. "I'll need you by my side when the rest of my wives aren't able to walk."

The last comment elicited a simultaneous gulp from three young women who suddenly realized they weren't quite as well prepared for the man they'd brought into their lives as what they'd originally thought. Siesta was gushing. "Yes master!"

"Saito..." Louise started.

"Shut up and get in the carriage Louise." Siesta ordered as she got behind her and started pushing her towards the door.

"But there's an army out there!" Louise complained.

"They're about to have bigger problems."

* * *

><p>The elven high priest stared at the spot where the five humans had been standing. The markings on the staff had been unmistakable. A powerful void mage had come into their world. News would be spreading to all the lands where the elves dwelt. Dark times were coming.<p>

"This is terrible your grace. The wards we placed should have prevented a human from ever being able to teleport into the temple here." The younger priest exclaimed.

"The only way they could have bypassed the ward would be to have teleported in from the other world." The high priest agreed. Such a notion was absurd though. No mage had ever come _from_ the otherworld. "That or they managed to figure out the key to the ward."

"There's no way they could have figured it out!" The younger priest lamented.

The older priest nodded worriedly. "Besides, where could they even _get_ an elven virgin's panties?"

**A/N: I love panty humor. lol Next week should be the conclusion to my little story. It's been a long time in coming I know. I started this story a long time ago, and I'm kind of sad to see it end. Hope you are all well. Until next week!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note: Here it is the final chapter. I usually put a comment at the end of each of my chapters and stories, but this time I didn't. I think it would have ruined the ending to me. I hope you have all enjoyed this project of mine. I know it has been my privilege to share my thoughts with you.**

Chapter 17.

General Rethoboth blinked a couple of times as the dust settled around the interior of the pavilion. He'd been sent to negotiate peace with the four rebel lords currently sitting across the table from him. He had pretty much decided to stall for time until Duke Valliere decided to join them and conclude the discussions with the surrender of the absent queen's guards.

Now he was looking up at a gaping hole in the ceiling of the tent above the large round negotiation table staring at the rear end of a young man who was apparently responsible for that aforementioned hole as he knelt down in the center of the table with his sword drawn and driven point first into the center of the table.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lord Finchley bellowed. "We're under a flag of truce!"

The four pasty lords sputtered as their four bodyguards dropped into fighting stances prepared to defend their masters.

"Are you still breathing?" The young man asked in a low dangerous voice. The four lords looked at each other hesitantly before one of them mutely nodded. "Then we're still under a flag of truce."

_Until I decide otherwise._ The threat seemed to hang unspoken in the air between the four men and the young man that now confronted them.

"We are trying to discuss the terms of surrender." Lord Rumple sneered nasally at the violent interloper.

"The terms are simple. You will surrender your soldiers totally and completely to the queen. You will take only your personal guards and you will return home in peace, or else you will be summarily executed for treason." The swordsman stated flatly.

At this the four lords laughed. The general noted however his guards weren't laughing. The four of them were looking uneasy and ready to bolt.

"Why should we surrender? The queen is no longer here and Duke Valliere only has 30,000 men at his command while we have brought 50,000 men to the field. We outnumber you by nearly two to one. We have already laid siege to the capitol and we control all the food coming in and out." Lord Quigley snorted.

"You are mistaken. The queen and I have returned from our honeymoon, and we are not amused to find what you've been up to. Didn't you gentlemen recognize me?" Saito said raising his fist with the glowing runes of the Gandalfr. "I would hate to think I'd left such an easily forgotten impression."

The general gulped and looked at the gathered guards. The lords were useless nobles who knew nothing of war and thought even less about sending men off to die for one. Their soldiers however were veterans. They'd been at Tarbes, they'd gone to Albion, and they knew _exactly_ who they were facing.

"You're still just one man." Lord Puvelant asserted.

"One man that fought an army of 70,000 men to a standstill. I stopped an army larger than yours to allow your men time to flee Albion. I figure that means I'm worth about 70,000 men. That and the 30,000 men the _queen_ has at her disposal means _we_ outnumber _you_ by two to one. And if I die, then I'll just have Tifa resurrect me from the dead just like the last time somebody got lucky. So please gentlemen, explain to me why I'm not pulling this sword out of the table and cutting the heads off four traitors." Saito growled.

General Rethoboth watched the lords getting ready to argue. Lord Finchley's bodyguard began whispering furiously into his lords ear. Lord Finchley was the brains of the outfit, and he wasn't quite as stupid as the other three. His brow furrowed as his guard informed him of the mortal danger he was now in.

* * *

><p>"What is Saito doing down there?" Henrietta asked as she peered over the rampart at the gathered army. She was dressed once again in her royal garments and they felt tight. She much preferred the loose garments of Saito's world.<p>

"I think this book calls it 'shotgun diplomacy', whatever that means." Tabitha said flipping through the book Grandfather had given to Henrietta and trying to translate the words.

"That man is going to start another rebellion." Henrietta fretted.

"Just make sure everyone down there sees you Majesty." Osmond said seriously. "They have to understand that you have returned and that if they fight it will be treason."

Henrietta nodded and watched the carriage below departing the castle. A solid wall of soldiers blocked the road leading to the academy. Henrietta was sure they were going to be stopped until a soldier came running from the ruined pavilion toward the soldiers laying siege to the castle screaming something unintelligible at them and flailing his arms madly. The soldiers parted hesitantly as the carriage started getting up speed to carry Louise to her fate. Henrietta sighed and once again envied Louise.

The ruined pavilion seemed to come alive shortly after that with lords coming out and running for their horses and galloping off as if the devil himself were after them. Their guards started running out to the army and shouting orders. Word passed slowly through the ranks of the soldiers who apparently couldn't believe their ears.

Finally Saito stepped out of the ruined pavilion and glared at the invading army. General Rethoboth, her chief military commander walked beside him and the two of them started walking toward the officers and soldiers standing around leaderless. As the two started passing by, soldiers began saluting before dropping their weapons and armor. Saito nodded and turned to the general before turning to look up at Henrietta.

Her husband bowed deeply, and then turned on his heels and commandeered the nearest horse. She didn't have to guess where he was headed.

* * *

><p>Some time later...<p>

* * *

><p>Dawn arrived as it usually did over the land of Gallia, light pouring over the countryside filling in the cracks where night reluctantly let loose it's tenuous grip on the morning. At the royal palace of Gallia, the peaceful morning was getting off to its usual slow start.<p>

"You're going to get us in trouble if you yawn again." Albrecht said to his tired counterpart.

"It's not like anything is going to happen anytime soon. Not even the elves would attack on a day like today. Can you blame me for starting the celebration a little early?" Boris replied leaning heavily on his spear after a night of binge drinking. The man hadn't even slept before coming back on duty.

Albrecht snorted and watched the road leading up to the gates. There, on schedule was the royal carriage that would be carrying Queen Henrietta and the ambassador from Tristain for the coronation ceremony.

Behind them, a familiar voice had already started bellowing. "Get back here you two little imps!"

The guards watched in amusement as two of the palace's youngest inhabitants bounced out of the doors leading to the kitchen. The two black haired little kids jumped over the rail in one leap to land athletically on the grass below before tearing out at a dead run. Each of them had a piece of cake stuffed precariously in their mouth as a portly aged maid came running out the door after them wielding a frying pan over her head.

The old woman had to take the stairs while the two boys ran like their life depended on it, which it most likely did. The young boys were well gone by the time the old maid had reached the bottom of the stairs huffing. "Respect your Nana!"

The two bowed to the old maid to hide their grins and turned back to the coach as it finished coming to a stop just inside the gates. Albrecht reached up to the door only to come nose to barrel with a pistol.

"Back off, soldier boy." The young woman said imperiously.

The guard slowly raised his hands as the young woman in trousers got down off the carriage and opened the door to the royal coach.

"Must you cause a scene everywhere we go?" Queen Henrietta asked as she stepped from the carriage. The queen of Tristain was a stunning beauty so it was little surprise that her guards were so protective.

"Oh Henrietta, you look so beautiful child." The elderly maid said waddling up to the Queen of Tristain like she was cooing a five year old.

"I've missed you Nana." The queen said embracing the old woman warmly.

"Oh. You really should eat a little better girl. You look so pale and frail." The motherly old maid said pulling out a handkerchief and daubing it on her tongue before wiping away dust that had dared to settle on the foreign dignitary.

A second carriage pulled into the royal courtyard. The two guards turned to the creaking carriage that rode low to the ground. Albrecht slowly approached the door and opened it to make sure there weren't anymore pretty young women with pistols waving in his face.

He opened the door which bore the symbol of the Magic Academy as a rotund old man tried to pry himself through the door. The obese old mage had a belly as large as a mountain and his grey beard cascaded down it like a waterfall. As he stepped from the carriage, the beleaguered conveyance sprang back with enough force to nearly throw the driver from his seat as the springs made the body of the carriage pop back up a good two feet above the nearly bent axles.

"Headmaster." The two guards muttered respectfully as they bowed. The old headmaster was as huge as his reputation. As he turned to hold out his crooked staff of office to allow his owl to light from the carriage to the tip of the staff, he looked around and let his eyes immediately fall on the elderly maid.

"Why hello, Siesta." The old man said with a broad smile,

"Malicorne." Mistress Siesta muttered dryly. "You're still too fat."

The old headmaster deflated (slightly), and sadly turned his attention to the queen. "It's good to see you your majesty."

"Headmaster Malicorne." Queen Henrietta II said with a formal nod of the head.

"Is Saito with you? He's been skipping lessons again and Professor Longueville asked me to make sure I came back to the academy with him in tow." The headmaster asked seriously.

The queen turned to the carriage. "You might as well come out Saito, the headmaster isn't going to take 'no' for an answer."

"Aww, Aunt Henrietta, do I have to? I mean I get so bored at the academy. I mean what point is there? None of my spells ever work out right anyway." The young black haired boy said peeking out of the carriage.

"Some master I ended up with." The young pink haired girl who had shoved the gun in Albrecht's face snorted. "Why did I have to get saddled with you?"

"He's your brother Ayaka. You should take care of him. That's a Gandalfr's job after all." The queen instructed her niece.

The roguish young girl wore leather breeches, and had two flintlock pistols at her side as well as a wicked looking rapier. The girl walked over and dragged her older brother out of the carriage. "I will. I just wish he'd stop embarrassing me. Now get out here Saito Hiraga de Valliere, you're supposed to be the ambassador to Gallia!"

Boris and Albrecht had no idea why the maid and the headmaster were chuckling, but they let it drop. It was the day of the new king of Gallia's coronation. Her majesty, Queen Charlotte the Wise was stepping down and handing the reins of the kingdom over to her eldest great grandson. The elderly monarch had ruled for over seventy years. She was now the oldest monarch in all the lands. Age had dimmed her eyes, but had never dulled her wits. She and the Queen of Tristain's grandmother had been the first to institute the concept of a 'parliament' in each of their countries, allowing for a House of Nobles and House of Commons. Today the enduring peace of that great movement which had brought equal rights to nobles and commoners was being celebrated. There was even talk of a marriage between the new king's son and Queen Henrietta's eldest daughter, a marriage that would unify the 'Twin Kingdoms' into the 'United Kingdom'.

Ayaka was busy scolding her brother as the guards looked on in amusement. Albrecht looked over to see a stray tear trickle down the cheek of the portly maid. "Is everything alright Mistress Siesta?"

"Oh, yes child. I was just remembering a couple of people I loved long, long ago. Everything is just as it should be."

**The End.**


End file.
